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April 30, 2012

11:58 PM: 5-2 is a final...the
Kings lead the series 2-0, heading home...

Keep in mind, while St. Louis spent most of the season in
1st or 2nd, L.A. for a while, was 3rd in the conference, depending on the
Pacific division standings...so even though they've come into the playoffs as
8th seed, they are far from it...and they are showing it...

Tomorrow night, only 1 game - New Jersey-Philadelphia Game
2...

--------------------

11:36 PM: Penalty filled 2nd, and 3rd so far, as the
intensity level in this series has hit the boiling point...no surprise, given
the score...

David Backes has set up Matt D'Agostini for his 1st of
the playoffs, 5:16 of the 3rd...but it's L.A. with the 5-2 lead...

8 roughing minors in the 3rd
alone...6 more in the 2nd, and a charging minor...yes...it's been rough
alright...

--------------------

10:13 PM: Caps win 3-2,
series is tied 1-1...Rangers must have hit 3 posts in that 3rd period...

If St. Louis wants to tie their series, they'd better
get to work...they got one early in the 2nd, Andy McDonald with his 5th, from
David Backes and Kris Russell, but L.A. has just restored the 4 goal lead...
Brian Elliott is still in goal, Halak is still scratched...so if Ken Hitchcock
wants to pull him, he'll have to put in 21 year old Jake Allen...has the bubble
finally burst for Elliott...again?!?

It's 5-1, Kings...

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9:58 PM: 12:33 of the 3rd, guess who makes it 3-2,
Capitals...Ovechkin, from Nick Backstrom...on a power play while Brad Richards
was in the box a whole 4 seconds for a hold on John Carlson...

Thought I saw Ovie cupping his ear
with his hand as if to say, "I can't hear you Ranger fans"...

--------------------

9:54 PM: Jeff Carter with his 1st, Penner with his 2nd assist on the
night...at 18:37...that made it 3-0...then Kopitar, again, his 3rd, from Justin
Williams and Brown, at 19:43...

Shots on goal were 16-5, Los Angeles...we
weren't supposed to see Jaroslav Halak for the first two games of this series,
but I wonder if we will now...

--------------------

9:53 PM: The Kings are out to the most dangerous lead in
hockey...3-0...

Better make that 4-0...never
mind...

Stats coming up...the
1st period is almost over...

--------------------

9:48 PM: Tied 2-2...the
Rangers, on a power play...they're saying Ryan Callahan tipped in a Michael Del
Zotto shot...Richards, as in Brad, gets a secondary assist...at 6:58 of the
3rd...Callahan's 3rd...not sure if Callahan touched it, though...they might
change it to Del Zotto before long...

--------------------

9:39 PM: 3rd period in New York, still 2-1, Capitals...have
seen Alex Ovechkin more in the first five minutes than we've seen him the entire
game...

Anze Kopitar, his 2nd, from Dustin
Brownmakes it 2-0, Kings...4th
shorthanded goal for L.A. in the playoffs...at 14:16...

--------------------

9:36 PM: Another big hit on Blues player...this time it's Willie
Mitchell taking Jamie Langenbrunner into the end boards...

Still no major penalty...there was
no supplemental on Dwight King, either, as he is playing in this
game...evidently it's open season on the St. Louis Blues...

--------------------

9:30 PM: Los Angeles has the early lead 1-0 over St. Louis in
Game 2 of their series, Richards, as in Mike, scored 31 seconds into the
first...Dustin Penner assisted...

--------------------

8:36 PM: Looks like Donald Trump is scouting talent for the
next season of The Apprentice...either that or looking for a task he can assign
the contestants...

--------------------

8:22 PM: First period shots on goal, 12-10, Washington...

The Rangers will carry over 1:48 of
power play time into period 2...Mike Green tripped up the rookie...

Don Cherry will probably say he
deserved it...;)...

--------------------

8:19 PM: And Brad Richards gets it back...Marian Gaborik fed him a
perfect pass and he made no mistake...at 19:17, Richards' 4th, Gaborik and
Michael Del Zotto with the assists...

2-1, now...dying
seconds of the 1st period...

--------------------

8:13 PM: Chris Kreider has gone from hero to goat in less than
five minutes...speaking of too many men on the ice, he was a little too eager to
change, and the Rangers got caught...Kreider served the penalty....they killed
it off, but then out of the box guess who ended up with the puck on his stick
breaking in on Braden Holtby...this time, however, he couldn't score...and the
Capitals went the other way and scored Jason Chimera's 3rd of the playoffs, with
thanks to Matt Hendricks and Jay Beagle...time of the goal 17:14...

2-0, Washington...ouch!!!

--------------------

8:06 PM: Looks like I joined the party just in time to see the
first goal of Game 2 between Washington and New York...and it's the Capitals,
responding to the MSG faithful's taunts on Ovechkin at the 8 minute mark...Joel
Ward fed Mike Knuble for his 2nd of the playoffs, at 12:20 of the 1st
period...Keith Aucoin also draws an assist...the fans might want to stop doing
that (yeah right!)...last game it prompted the referees to catch a too many men
penalty, but this time it backfired...

I literally
just turned the T.V. on after hitting the showers after a workout...perfect
timing...it's almost like they were waiting for me...

1-0, Capitals...

April 29, 2012

10:48 PM: The game ends 5-3...Nashville
pulled their goalie with almost 2 1/2 minutes left, but couldn't get anything
past Mike Smith...

Coyotes lead the series 2-0...but
the Predators are going home...so far, at least, it seems home ice advantage is
actually more of an advantage in the 2nd round...

10:17 PM: It could
easily be 8-3 by now...Rinne has had 3 good
saves with a goal against sandwiched in between...

--------------------

10:14 PM: Gilbert Brule
was robbed blind by Pekka Rinne, but Shane
Doan would restore the 2 goal lead off the ensuing face off...assists to Derek
Morris and Antoine Vermette...Doan's 2nd, at 3:36...

5-3, Desert Dogs...

--------------------

10:09 PM: Ryan Suter
gets the Predators within striking distance
again...it's 4-3...Suter's 1st, from Shea Weber and Martin Erat, scored at 0:53
of the 3rd, while Radim Vrbata was sitting for interfering with Andrei Kostitsyn...

--------------------

9:57 PM: CHL finals are set...in
the OHL, London goes up against Niagara, in the WHL, Edmonton vs Portland...and
in the QMJHL, Rimouski vs Saint John...winner of each series moves on to
Shawinigan for the Memorial Cup...

Both of Ottawa's teams were
eliminated this week...of course, the Senators on Thursday in Game 7, and the
67s went out Friday night, as Niagara beat them in 5 games...

Rimouski took out Halifax...they
were one of the favorites to win the whole thing...not anymore...

I have to say, though, the Edmonton
Oil Kings are looking pretty good...

--------------------

9:55 PM: End of the 2nd...shots
were 19-15, Phoenix, 31-24 through 40 minutes...and they lead 4-2 on the
scoreboard...

--------------------

9:44 PM: Just read
this on NHL.com...there's a little button
there which reads "A Message To Our Fans":

"Dear NHL Fans,

You may have heard about a contest that is currently being run in Canada
promoting the chance to win "hockey tickets for life" to a Canadian hockey
team's games. We want our fans to know that the NHL has no affiliation with that
promotion, and we can offer no assurances to our fans that the desired tickets
will be available to the winner.

The NHL
does authorize a
number of sweepstakes and contests, including one from official partner Molson
-- The Stanley Cup Collection -- which includes the chance to win a trip to this
year's Stanley Cup Final, as well as some other great prizing. Learn all about
this exciting promotion on our partner's Facebook page."

Of course,
the contest they refer to is Budweiser's Playoff Payoff...what they're really
saying is if they were to endorse this contest, it would create a conflict of
interest, as the NHL continues to be affiliated with Molson Canadian, where the
Facebook link takes you...

I wonder, though, if the NHL
realizes that Molson distributes Bud in Canada, or for that matter, Coors
Light...just sayin'...

--------------------

9:32 PM: Taylor Pyatt,
from Shane Doan, time of the goal, 11:50 of
the 2nd...Pyatt's 3rd...he's not Taylor "Quiet" this year...

7:20 left...

--------------------

9:29 PM: Game 2
between Phoenix and Nashville has played
out fairly similar to Game 1...tied after 1 period, back and forth hockey,
chances at both ends...

I don't know if it's just me, but it seems every time
there's an overtime game, one of the players I pick to score ends up scoring the
first goal of the next game...same thing tonight, as Antoine Vermette got things
going, 8:02 into the 1st, his 5th, from Keith Yandle and Mikkel Boedker...before
the 1st was done, Nashville would tie it - Andrei Kostitsyn, his 3rd, Kevin
Klein and Nick Spaling assisted...it was 1-1 after the first 20...shots were
12-9, Phoenix...

Just past the halfway mark of the
2nd period, and Phoenix has added 2 more...Martin Hanzal, his 2nd, at 3:47,
Radim Vrbata and Ray Whitney with helpers...that same line would connect again,
at 7:05, Vrbata from Hanzal and Yandle...

Nashville scored to get within 1, Patric Hornqvist, on a
power play, his 1st of the playoffs, from Ryan Suter and Mike Fisher...at
11:20...it was 3-2...the goal scored while Ray Whitney was in the box for a
slash on Alex Radulov...

Phoenix has just scored again...Taylor
Pyatt...4-2...more to come...

--------------------

6:29 PM: Danny Briere
had one called back about 2 minutes in, as
he had clearly kicked the puck into the net, while Marek Zidlicky was serving
yet another puck over the glass delay of game penalty, but moments later he
would make good on it...at 4:36 of the first overtime, Briere, assisted by the
guy who scored the overtime goal in Game 1 against Pittsburgh, Jakub Voracek,
and Matt Carle...

And for the 3rd straight game, I get
this from uLAr: "CLARKSON"...sooner or later, it's going to happen, one would
think...

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5:54 PM: Overtime in Game 1...3rd
straight time for New Jersey, 1st time for Philly since Game 1 of the Pittsburgh
series...18th overtime game of these playoffs...shots on goal - 29-22
Philadelphia thru regulation...15-4 in the 3rd...NJ started the game out
shooting Philly 11-0...

--------------------

5:35 PM: Teams have
traded goals...Claude Giroux with his team
leading 7th, at 4:19 of the 3rd, from Kimmo Timonen and Scott Hartnell, scored
while Andy Greene was serving time for hooking...

And moments ago, Petr Sykora scored his 1st of these
playoffs, David Clarkson assisted...at 11:22...

Tied 3-3...overtime
looms...Philadelphia now has the lead in shots, 24-21...10-3 in this period
alone...

--------------------

4:40 PM: Just when
it seemed like momentum was going the
Flyers way, the referees got involved...after a couple of even up penalties, the
Devils got one just as they were going on a power play...Travis Zajac, hero of
Game 6, from Parise and Kovalchuk, at 13:53...the play started four on four, but
Kovalchuk had the presence of mind to wait for Patrik Elias to get out of the
box...Adam Henrique was hooked while going in mano et mano with Bryzgalov...they
didn't call a penalty shot, but the Devils scored on the power play...they'll
take it...

Tied 2-2...

--------------------

4:29 PM: That goal
seems to have ignited the Flyers...James
Van Reimsdyk converts on a juicy rebound to score his first of the playoffs,
just 37 seconds after the Briere goal, at 8:44...Erik Gustafsson assists with
the initial shot...seems the game has opened up a bit...we're back and forth
now...

2-1, Flyers...

--------------------

4:25 PM: Danny Briere
ties the game 1-1 with his 6th, 8:07 into
the 2nd period...Jakub Voracek intercepted a weak clear out attempt by Ilya
Kovalchuk and sent Briere in all alone on Brodeur...about an 11 ft wristshot,
Briere rarely misses on those...

Still not sure what's wrong with
Kovy...seems to just be occupying space on the roster and on the ice...

--------------------

4:09 PM: We're through one
period at the Wells Fargo Center in
Philadelphia, and it's the New Jersey Devils with the lead in Game 1...

I said Zach Parise needs to contribute more to help the
Devils' cause, well he's off to a good start, as he has the series ice breaker -
his 3rd of the playoffs, 3:16 into the 1st, Patrik Elias with the lone assist...

After that, the Devils got into a little bit of penalty
trouble, but the Flyers couldn't convert...nobody has scored on the power play
yet...I know it's only one period in, but a far cry from what we saw in the
Philadelphia Pittsburgh series...

Shots on goal, 15-6, New Jersey...Ilya Bryzgalov so far
has only let in the one goal, which he didn't even see as Parise snapped it by
him...

Claude Giroux was trying to get
under Parise's skin, but unlike Sidney Crosby, he kept his composure...Philly
better soon learn the Devils are not intimidated by their bully
tactics...

April 28, 2012

10:05 PM: So
we have dual 3-1 scores on this first Saturday of the 2nd round, and now the Kings are4-0 on the road...if you didn't think
they were for real, think again...but, one game does not a series make...this
one, right or wrong, will be overshadowed by the Dwight King hit on Alex
Pietrangelo...Pietrangelo never returned, and you just hope he's OK...

I don't know about anybody else, but
seeing Coach's Corner and Satellite Hot Stove during an afternoon HNIC broadcast
was just, well, weird...

Be back Sunday at 3 PM, when the
Devils will face the Flyers...I promise...;)...

--------------------

10:03 PM: Dustin Penner scores into an empty net, and like they did
against Vancouver, the Kings steal back home ice...only 6 seconds left...

--------------------

9:58 PM: Los Angeles
and Philadelphia have made a living in these playoffs by scoring timely
shorthanded goals...

The Kings scored another one, at 18:57 of the 2nd,
Matt Greene from Dustin Brown, while Dwight King was serving 2 minutes for a
borderline boarding play on Alex Pietrangelo...could have easily called a major
on that one...Mr. King will be hearing from Mr. Shanahan, methinks...

It was 2-1 after 40 minutes, and the
one goal lead has held up through the 3rd...there's only 3:31 left before the
Kings steal Game 1...Blues are pressing hard...

--------------------

8:23 PM: End of the 1st period at Scottrade
Center, and it's a 1-1 tie...

Another wide open, back and forth game, so far...and the St.
Louis Blues scored the first goal, 9:16 in, David Perron scored his 2nd of the
playoffs, from Alex Pietrangelo and T.J. Oshie...

L.A. would tie it at 16:58, as Dustin Penner would feed
Slava Voynov for his 1st...

Shots were 13-11, St. Louis...almost
more shots in 1 period than we had all game in New York earlier today...

--------------------

5:41 PM: 3-1 is the final score...Rangers
take Game 1...

--------------------

5:28 PM: The fans at MSG took a page from Ottawa...they let the
clock count down to 8 minutes, then started chanting "Ovie Sucks!"...just as
that was happening, almost on queue, the Capitals got caught for too
many men on the ice...they got away with one towards the end of the 2nd, just
before the Chimera goal, but this time the referees were paying attention...

--------------------

5:19 PM: The Rangers have blown it open...Chris Kreider shot
about a 45 footer from just outside the slot for his 2nd, at 7:00 of the 3rd,
from Derek Stepan, and then Kreider set up Brad Richards just a minute and a
half later, at 8:30...Marian Gaborik with a secondary assist...

3-1...they're
taunting Ovie...

--------------------

4:49 PM: 2nd period done at MSG...and
we have 2 goals scored...

Washington missed on a 5 on 3 power play, and moments
later, Artem Anisimov rode the momentum into his 1st of the playoffs, a
wraparound goal, set up by Ruslan Fedotenko and Ryan McDonagh...but the Capitals
tied it with 3.5 seconds left in the period...Jason Chimera went five hole on
Henrik Lundqvist, converting a Brooks Laich pass that was on the tape...

Tied 1-1...shots
on goal are 13-7, Washington...let's see if the goal boosts momentum in the
3rd...

Rangers-Capitals is looking more like what was expected of
the 2nd round...both teams seem to be feeling each other out...it's scoreless,
just past the 5 minute mark of the 2nd...kind of expected this out of the game
last night...

--------------------

12:24 AM: To quote Darren Pang: "Holy Jumpin', what a
play!"...

Ray Whitney, off a face off win by Martin Hanzal, made a
diving play to put it past Pekka Rinne, 14:04 into the first overtime...and not
only does Whitney score his first Stanley Cup playoff overtime goal since 1995,
the Phoenix Coyotes win their first ever game in the 2nd round...even dating
back to the 1987 season, the only other time this franchise won a playoff round,
the Jets were swept in Round 2, you'll never guess by who...

Final shots were 42-24, Nashville,
but once again, despite giving up 3 goals, and once again, one of them late in a
game, Mike Smith was the story...

1-0, Desert Dogs lead the
series...if they keep this up, they'll become Desert Gods...

Coming up at 3:00 PM, Game 1 between
New Jersey and Philadelphia, then at 7, Kings-Blues...

April 27, 2012

11:46 PM: No Matt Halischuk or Jordin Tootoo in this
game, both are healthy scratches...

My picks for the overtime winners...Mike Fisher for
Nashville, Antoine Vermette for Phoenix...it was the attack of the former Ottawa
players to start round one...why not...

uLAr has Alex Radulov for Nashville,
Shane Doan for Phoenix...incidentally, like me, he has Nashville in 6...unlike
me, he's picking Los Angeles over St. Louis in 6, and Washington in 7 games
instead of 6...we both seem to agree all these series will be long...

--------------------

11:43 PM: Why would the second round start any differently than
the first round ended? Overtime at the Jobing.com Arena...

Boyd Gordon took a late penalty for holding the stick,
and at 15:18 of the 3rd Martin Erat scored on the ensuing power play, his 1st of
these playoffs, to tie the game 3-3...helped along by Hornqvist and Ryan
Suter...

--------------------

10:51 PM: Well, whoever it was who said this was supposed
to be a defensive snoozefest of a series, it's clear the players didn't get the
memo...it's been back and forth, breakneck speed...after 40 minutes, it's
Phoenix with a slight edge...

Rostislav Klesla got the 2nd period
going at 3:05, Daymond Langkow and Adrian Aucoin assisted...moments after
Langkow took Paul Gaustad into the boards, Phoenix restored their one goal
lead...Andrei Kostitsyn would reply with his 2nd of the playoffs, at 11:18, from
Patric Hornqvist and Francis Bouillon, a real scramble around the net and
somehow the puck found its way past a down and out Mike Smith, and the game was
tied again, 2-2...then they really started to go end to end...and at 16:27,
Mikkel Boedker scored his 3rd, with props to Antoine Vermette and Klesla, and
the Coyotes have held on for the 3-2 lead after 2 periods of play...they'll have
to kill off a penalty to start the 3rd, though, as it got a little heated at the
buzzer - they called holding on Vermette, but it could easily have been called
roughing...these two teams haven't played in the post season before, but it
doesn't look like it'll take very long before they both get a hate on for each
other...

--------------------

9:43 PM: Almost thru one period of Game 1 between Phoenix and
Nashville, and we're tied 1-1...

Radim Vrbata has scored his 1st of the playoffs, a power
play goal, assists given to Ray Whitney and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, at 7:23 -
Kevin Klein tripped up Lauri Korpikoski...then at 14:09, Brandon Yip with his
1st, even strength, from Francis Bouillon and Craig Smith...

The Dogs need to get Vrbata
going...good sign so far...

--------------------

5:01 PM: Considering how crazy the first round was, I came out
of it looking not so bad...picked 5 out of the 8 series winners correctly and 3
of them in the right amount of games...I can tell you this much - I did better
than EA Sports did...

But...the
Stanley Cup is not awarded after the 1st round...but how can you possibly top
what we just saw over the past two weeks? Just like getting off to a good
start in October and November can help a team get to the dance in April, when
you're looking at the matchups on paper, it's important to try and make the so
called safe picks...but as uLAr and I will both tell you - it's a gamble,
because until the games have actually been played, who knows what's going to
happen - the games aren't played on paper...

Right
now I feel very good about a good showing in round one...but there are still 3
more rounds to go...

So without further ado...here goes
nothing...my picks for Round 2...like in the first round, I can't see anybody
sweeping their way through - as the teams get more closely matched:

NY Rangers-Washington - Capitals in 6...only
if Holtby can keep up the stellar netminding...I still think the Rangers just
got by in that last series, despite the fact I predicted they'd win in 7...I
said Ottawa would give them all they could handle, and they did...two players
that have to get going - Brad Richards for the Rangers, Alex Ovechkin for the
Capitals...both team's defensive lines will provide the secondary scoring...

Philadelpia-New Jersey - Devils in 6...I
still don't like Philly's goaltending...and believe me, the Devils will not
become unravelled and lose their composure like Sid and the Penguins did...New
Jersey's forte always has, and always will be defense first, ask questions
later...it would help, however, if Zach Parise can chip in...as for Ilya
Kovalchuk, what happened to him in the Game 7 overtime?

St. Louis-Los Angeles - Blues in 6...I
can't imagine St. Louis imploding like Vancouver did...sure, the Kings have a
good goalie in Jonathan Quick, but the Blues have two good ones, and Ken
Hitchcock will not hesitate to use them...Halak should be ready to go when
called upon, although we probably won't find out until game time...

Phoenix-Nashville - Predators in 6...This
one, really, could go either way...don't expect too many high scoring
games...both goaltenders have seen a lot of shots, and have stopped a fair
margin of them...I give the edge to Nashville's defense, that is, of course,
provided Shea Weber doesn't do something stupid and get himself suspended...you
have to think the Coyotes winning their first round, ever, is a success for them
(both on and off the ice)...just don't tell that to the players...since it's the
only bonus pick either uLAr or I has left, I have to stick with my Dark
Horse pick...

We get going tonight at 9 PM...

--------------------

12:50 PM: I haven't heard this much heated debate in Toronto
over Daniel Alfredsson in nearly a decade...of course, back in 2002, it was all
about the hit on Darcy Tucker that led to a GWG in Game 5 of the Eastern
Conference Battle of Ontario Semi final...not so many years later, there was the
mock stick incident, where he pretended to throw a stick into the Toronto crowd
in jest of his fellow countryman Mats Sundin, who got suspended for actually
throwing his stick into the crowd...

Today, on Sportsnet's Hockey Central at Noon, Doug
Maclean and Nick Kypreos got into a heated exchange over whether or not Alfie
should come back for one more season and play out his contract...Maclean argues
that if a team is going to front load a contract, a player shouldn't have the
right to retire before the end of it, when it pays him less money...he indicated
if a player can walk away from a contract, then a team should be able to as
well...

Perhaps the one thing that needs to
be clear here - Alfie has not decided one way or another if he's going to play
next year...he made it pretty clear last night, if he feels he can, he'll be
back...beyond the end of his contract next year, don't count on it...he'll be 40
when the contract expires...personally, I hope he comes back for one more year,
but I have a feeling we've seen him play his last game...I don't possibly see
what more he can contribute or what else he has to prove to this team...if
you're truly in rebuild mode, give somebody else a chance to make the big
league...and that was Kypreos' argument - he owes Ottawa nothing...doesn't mean
he can't still be with the team in some capacity, either as a pro scout or in
the front office somewhere...he's made it very clear Ottawa will remain his
home...

Of course, it all speaks to a much
larger issue that no doubt will be addressed during the next round of collective
bargaining...

My picks for the second round,
coming this afternoon...

--------------------

12:16 AM: 3:47 into the 2nd overtime period - the rookie - Adam
Henrique, who started the scoring in this game, finishes it, as he goes five hole on Jose
Theodore...and the Devils eliminate the Panthers...Alex Ponikarovsky and David
Clarkson get assists...

The Philadelphia Flyers await...the
two teams finished 1 point apart...

Gary Bettman did indeed have his NHL
Hour show, but couldn't take any calls due to technical difficulties with the
phone system...must have been the same issue preventing anyone from posting on
NHL.com any sort of teaser or preview of the week's guest(s)...somehow, though,
he was able to have on Washington Capitals G.M. George McPhee...later on, E.J.
Hradek took it upon himself to get fans to Tweet their questions...I have to
say, even though it was a train wreck of a show, it was quite compelling
radio...well done, Mr. Commissioner...;)

12:04 AM: And we go to 2OT...last
time New Jersey played a double overtime game in a Game 7 - that 1994 Eastern
Conference final series against the Rangers...that series, too, went to overtime
in both Game 6 and 7...the Rangers won both games - it was the infamous Mark
Messier guarantee to his team and the whole world that the Rangers, down 3-2 in
their series, would win...while there's been nothing like that to report that I
know of, should bode well for New Jersey, given they too, were down 3-2 in the
series and managed to win Game 6, also in overtime...

I don't think I've ever seen a player so scared to take a
penalty...Kris Versteeg got called for a rare overtime penalty, a slash on Bryce
Salvador...and the look on his face while sitting in the box was
priceless...Dale Tallon's was even better...in any event, they killed it off,
and we play on...Salvador would leave the game, but he returned close to the end
of the overtime period...

John Madden, after colliding with
his team mate, left, but returned to this game looking like his face went
through a blender...he thought he had the game winner late in the
period...wouldn't that be a story if he ends up doing it...

April 26, 2012

11:14 PM: A wild 3rd period in Florida...Panthers
got their power play going not once, but twice...not only does the Martin
Brodeur Game 7 shutout go out the window, we are once again going to OT...16th
overtime game of the 1st round - that is a new NHL record...

Stephen Weiss, power play goal, his
3rd, at 5:02, Brian Campbell and Mikael Samuelsson assisted, scored during a
sequence where there were four penalties called...

Then, late in the game, Marek
Zidlicky took one of those puck over the glass delay of game penalties, and at
16:32, Sean Bergenheim and Jason Garrison (who has returned to this game from
injury) set up Marcel Goc for the tying goal, his 2nd...

The Panthers faithful are just
chomping at the bit to throw their little plastic rats on the ice...but they'll
have to hope their team gets the next goal...

Once again, uLAr sends me one
word..."CLARKSON"...well it worked for him last game...

I'm going to go with Kris Versteeg
for Florida, Ilya Kovalchuk for New Jersey...

--------------------

10:16 PM: 2nd intermission in Sunrise, Florida...Devils are still up
2-0...

--------------------

10:09 PM: 1 shot on goal for Florida in the 2nd so far...so
after taking a 12-9 edge in the 1st, New Jersey is now up 16-13...and Dale
Tallon is going nuts in the press box...

--------------------

9:57 PM: Ottawa gave it all they could...but the game ended 2-1,
series win for the Rangers, in 7...quite the flurry of action for about four
minutes towards the end of the game...they couldn't score...Sergei Gonchar
didn't help the cause much, taking a late tripping penalty as the Sens had a 6
on 5 advantage with the net empty...double edged sword, really - either he trips Carl Hagelin up,
or sees him score a goal into an empty net...

Final shots on goal were 29-27 for
the Rangers, but they must have easily blocked about 40 more shots, about 10 of
them on that final sequence alone...how close was this series? New York
outscored Ottawa 14-13...that's all...

So the
Rangers will get Washington...as Philly awaits the winner of the other Game
7...Ron Maclean confirmed CBC will get the Rangers-Capitals series...

And it's now 2-0 for New Jersey -Stephen Gionta has it, his 2nd,
at 9:15 of the 2nd, from Peter Harrold and Ryan Carter...

--------------------

9:07 PM: Alfie and Milan Michalek almost bailed him out with a shorthanded
goal...they spent most of the penalty kill in the NY end...that's one way to do
it...

They've killed it off...13:48
left in the 3rd period...

--------------------

9:05 PM: Biggest penalty kill of Ottawa's season...coming up...I
have not at all liked Jared Cowen's game tonight...and now he's put his team
down a man short for a high stick...

--------------------

8:54 PM: Ring the bell...Bryce
Salvador vs Erik Gubransson...call that one about even...

--------------------

8:44 PM: 2nd intermission at MSG...shots
were 11-7 Rangers...they now lead 20-18 on the shot clock, and still lead the
score 2-1...

Didn't take nearly as long for the first goal in
Florida...Adam Henrique deflected an Anton Volchenkov shot, and 1:29 into Game
7, it's 1-0, Devils...David Clarkson started the play down low...

Tomas Kopecky ran into his own team mate - former Devil
John Madden...he'll go off for repair...caught him in the nose with the
visor..."Right on the Button", as the T-shirt I'm wearing says...it's Mickey
Mouse with boxing gloves on...

--------------------

8:26 PM: In Game 6, the Rangers got going on the power play,
and Ottawa never recovered...the tables have turned, somewhat...Michael Del
Zotto took a cross checking penalty on Chris Neil, and on the ensuing power
play, Alfredsson drilled it...Lundqvist is still looking for it...at 11:35, from
Chris Phillips and Sergei Gonchar...1st career Game 7 goal for Alfie...

2-1...can
you say momentum shift?...

--------------------

8:22 PM: Dan Girardi converts a Brandon Dubinsky pass, at
9:04...Brandon Prust with a second assist...it's 2-0 for the Rags...think I just
saw somebody take their Sens car flag out of their window and throw it on the
ground...

--------------------

8:16 PM: The Rangers get on the board first - Marc Staal from
Ryan Callahan and Derek Stepan, at 4:46 of the 2nd period...Nick Foligno turned
it over and Jared Cowen couldn't recover...

1-0, New York...

--------------------

7:47 PM: Scoreless at MSG after the first
period...shouldn't come as any
surprise...shots were 10-8, Ottawa...both teams getting their chances...the only
penalty in the period was Brandon Dubinsky getting a holding minor on Jason
Spezza...didn't do much for momentum, as the Sens spent most of the last minute
in the Rangers' end...

The fans are on the referees when
they delay dropping the puck...and they're on Chris Neil every time he touches
the puck...at one point pretty sure they were chanting "Neil's an
@$%hole!!!"...only in NY...

Florida-New Jersey, 8:30
start...interesting that they staggered the starts...

So as I was saying earlier this
week, Ottawa is 0 for 4 in Game 7 - but, didn't even realize this until they
mentioned it in the pre game - Henrik Lundqvist hasn't won a Game 7
either...mind you, he's only played one of them - that was the
Washington-Rangers series from 2009 - Sergei Fedorov scored the winner in a
close 2-1 game...Daniel Alfredsson is the only Ottawa player that has played in
every Game 7 the Sens have ever been in...and tonight he has fire in his
eyes...another anomaly - # of goals scored in Game 7 by the players that make up
the present Ottawa roster - 0...

Looks like this one will be another
low scoring affair...

--------------------

3:28 PM: ...and there you have it...Steve
Staios says the Rangers and Devils are moving on...we'll see if he's
right...(and if I'm right)...

--------------------

3:06 PM: So, yesterday, the Vezina finalists were announced, and no
real surprise - Henrik Lundqvist, Pekka Rinne and Jonathan Quick are the
nominees...I know the Awards only count for regular season, but at least 2 of
the 3 are in the 2nd round...could be all three by the time the dust settles on
round 1 tonight...

Today, another shocker...the Norris
Finalists...and Nick Lidstrom is
not in the running...seriously...maybe it is time for him to retire...

Zdeno Chara, Erik Karlsson and Shea
Weber...if they award it on
points alone, Karlsson should get it...but any one of the three finalists have a
good "shot"...;)

--------------------

2:57 PM: Well, leave it to a few idiots to try and spoil
what was an otherwise outstanding series, and exciting finish for Washington's
Joel Ward...he was pretty quiet the whole series, but came through when it
mattered most...it seems however, some people who call themselves fans, even in
2012, can't look past the color of his skin, as reports of several vicious
Tweets including racial slurs have unfortunately become viral, and are making
national headlines...

When asked about it on a Toronto radio station this
morning, however, Ward took the high road, saying he's used to it, and more than
anything is enjoying the moment and looking forward to round 2...as well he
should...

So this afternoon, you have a choice
- Hockey Night In Canada Radio, or NHL.com...Islanders and former Oiler and
Flame Steve Staios is chatting playoff hockey online...on Sirius XM, it's Gord
Stellick with his usual round of guests and insight...I'm sure this whole Joel
Ward thing will be a hot topic of discussion...

Not sure if Gary Bettman is doing
his show tonight, but you can bet he'll be at MSG at some point...it's about a
10 block walk from the NHL store...

April 25, 2012

10:42 PM: Phoenix-Nashville gets going Friday, and St. Louis-Los
Angeles on Saturday - times haven't been announced yet, but I can't see Phoenix
getting going before 9:00 EST, if not later...St. Louis could be an afternoon
game, depending on what happens tomorrow...if Ottawa gets through you can bet
HNIC will want the Saturday night slot...

So much riding on tomorrow's
games...

--------------------

10:26 PM: I almost picked him and settled on Semin...Joel Ward
and Mike Knuble went 2 on 1, and at 2:57 Ward buries it, and stuns Tim Thomas,
the Boston Bruins, and the entire crowd at TD Garden...

And once again, there will be a new champion...

So 8th in the West advances, so far
5th and 7th in the East advance...if New Jersey and Ottawa both win tomorrow,
the top four seeds in the East will go bye-bye...

--------------------

10:22 PM: And again, I ask...why
is Bergeron playing?! He would have had that if he was healthy...

10:09 PM: Just like last year's 1st round series between Boston
and Montreal, this series will go to sudden death overtime...and I do mean
sudden death...winner moves on to the 2nd round, loser is going home...15th
overtime game in the first round...

--------------------

9:15 PM: 2nd intermission in Boston...

And we're all tied up - Tyler Seguin's 2nd straight
goal, after surviving a big battle down low, did a belly flop and got it in...at
14:27, with thanks to Johnny Boychuk and Andrew Ference...

Boston is up 25-13 on the shot
clock...and yet, the outcome of this game is still very much up in the air...

Have hardly
seen Patrice Bergeron in this game, and when we have he really appears to be
laboring...clearly he's hurt, and with all the healthy scratches on Boston's
roster, unsure why he is even playing...

Probably won't see much more of Alex
Semin or Nick Backstrom...neither can seem to play against the Bruins' big line
without looking foolish afterwards...

But, the crowd's in it...it's tied
1-1...the referees are letting them play (still just the one tripping penalty
called so far)...should make for a good finish to what's been arguably the
closest series of them all...all six games prior to this one were decided by 1
goal, a Stanley Cup record...and it looks like it'll be one goal that decides
this one...

--------------------

8:33 PM: Game 7...two
words that are music to any fan's ears...in any sport...

And Washington has the early 1-0
lead on Boston on the road...Matt Hendricks, who I picked to get the Game 6
overtime winner, gets his first career playoff goal, a deflection of a John
Carlson shot, at 11:23 of the 1st period...Jason Chimera with a secondary
assist...

Boston had a late power play, but as
usual, could do nothing with it...

Shots, 11-5, Boston, but like every
other game of this series, Braden Holtby was lights out...

Don Cherry accused the Bruins of
being too tentative, and the refs for not dropping the puck...seems to be Dale
Hunter's game...let the sleeping bear sleep...

April 24, 2012

10:36 PM: Tomorrow - Game 7 between Boston and Washington, and the
other two Game 7s go on Thursday...

--------------------

10:23 PM: Travis Zajac, with his 3rd of the playoffs, and 2nd
career playoff overtime goal, 5:29 into the 1st overtime...Ilya Kovalchuk and
Zach Parise with helpers...and we go to 7!!!

3 out of the 4 Eastern Conference 1st round series, all
going to 7 games...the Philadelphia Flyers must really be enjoying the extra
rest...

--------------------

10:02 PM: OK...so
he sent me one word: "CLARKSON"...fair enough...

Well, former Ottawa Senators players have been
getting it done this first round, despite the fact that only Antoine Vermette so
far has advanced to the second round...anyhow, I'm going with Anton Volchenkov
for New Jersey, and the former Devil, John Madden, for Florida...neither one of
them has a shot on goal in this game...something's got to give...

As for total shots on goal, New
Jersey has a 3-1 edge - 36-13 through three periods...

--------------------

9:59 PM: And,
it's official - 7 of 8 first round series in 2012 has had at least one overtime
game (Nashville-Detroit did not) - this one hadn't seen OT yet, but that changes in Game 6...still tied 2-2,
end of regulation time...

Can't wait to see uLAr's goal picks...I'm
anticipating he'll have either Scott Mellanby, or the coach Kevin Dineen for
Florida...;)...picks coming...

8:46 PM: 2-1 at 7:05 of the 2nd period, Kris Versteeg's 3rd of
the playoffs, helped along by Stephen Weiss and Dmitry Kulokov...moments after
David Clarkson almost made it 3-0, the lead is cut in half...pick your poison -
3-0, or 2-1...

--------------------

8:38 PM: Speaking of respectable seasons...gotta
love how Ilya Kovalchuk has figured out how to be a sniper again...3rd of the
playoffs for him, from Travis Zajac and Petr Sykora, at 4:21, power play goal
while Tomas Kopecky was sitting for a high stick on Harrold...

2-0, Devils...

On the next shift, Zajac seemed to
get hurt off the face off...Sean Bergenheim fell on his leg, the same one he
underwent achilles tendon surgery on this year...he left the game but has since
returned to the bench...

--------------------

8:33 PM: A few notes...

Not surprisingly, Roberto Luongo is apparently willing to
waive his no trade clause if Vancouver asks him to...don't know why, but I have
a feeling he could end up in Tampa...

Nick Lidstrom will apparently make
his decision on whether or not he's coming back for another season by July 1...

Masterton Trophy finalists - Daniel
Alfredsson, Joffrey Lupul, Max Pacioretty...all three battled injury or illness
last season and all three came back and had respectable seasons...

GM of the year finalists - Doug
Armstrong, David Poile and Dale Tallon...you know, I understand having a coach
of the year, but to me, the best manager is the one whose team wins the Stanley
Cup...period...never quite understood this award...

Yesterday they announced finalists
for the Lady Byng and Selke trophies...Lady Byng nominees - Jordan Eberle, Brian
Campbell and Matt Moulson...if you ask me, Eberle wins it hands down...as for
the Selke, a pretty good race - David Backes, Patrice Bergeron and Pavel Datsyuk...Datsyk
missed out on it last year, but is a pretty safe bet to get it again...

Tomorrow, Vezina...Thursday, Norris,
Friday, Hart...then Jack Adams and the NHL Foundation finalists on Saturday to
round out the nominations...

--------------------

8:24 PM: Game 6 - Panthers-Devils...do
we go to 7 or does Florida move on to a destination unknown?

1-0 for New Jersey after 20 minutes
at the Prudential Center...Steve Bernier has the ice breaker, his 2nd of the
playoffs, at 16:37 of the 1st, Ryan Carter and Peter Harrold figuring in on the
play...

11:37 PM: Final shots 39-20 in favor of Chicago...Mike Smith stopped
them all for his 1st career NHL Playoff shutout...and the Phoenix Coyotes
advance to the second round for the first time, ever...Shane Doan has waited 16
seasons for this moment...remember, he was drafted in 1994, just 2 years before
the original Jets left Winnipeg...the only second round appearance for the
Jets was 1987, when they took out Calgary in the first round...if it wasn't for
a team of great guys from Edmonton, they may have had better playoff success...

And if you think this series was close and low
scoring, now Smith meets Pekka Rinne, as Nashville will be their opponent...

So the Western Conference is
set...the Eastern Conference, we play on...

Only one game on Tuesday
night...Florida-New Jersey - Game 6...

--------------------

11:26 PM: Well if that didn't do it, Kyle Chipchura's 1st
career NHL playoff goal at 14:56 will...Gilbert Brule returned the favor,
assisting on the 4-0 Coyotes goal...both players with 1G 1A on the night...give
a secondary assist to Daymond Langkow...as the Chicago fans start heading for
the exits...

4:15 left...

--------------------

11:22 PM: Jimmy Hayes got a 5 minute major and the gate for a
boarding play on Michal Roszival, and Antoine Vermette, who started off this
series with 2 goals, may have just given the Dogs the insurance they need - his
4th of the playoffs, from Mikkel Boedker and Ekman-Larsson, at 13:04...

3-0, Phoenix...

--------------------

11:02 PM: 2-0 Coyotes, as Gilbert Brule gets his 2nd goal in as
many games, 2:24 into the 3rd, Kyle Chipchura gets a helper...his first playoff
point...

They've changed the second assist on
the Ekman-Larsson goal to Ray Whitney instead of Vrbata...

I'm not convinced this game is over
yet, though...can't imagine why...

--------------------

10:29 PM: Power play goal for Phoenix, at 13:14 of the 2nd
period, Oliver Ekman-Larsson - 1st career NHL playoff goal, assists from Keith
Yandle and Radim Vrbata...

1-0, Desert Dogs...it's
only the 6th shot on goal for Phoenix...

It's been the Mike Smith show so far...to
this point, Chicago is out shooting 23-6...16-2 in the 1st period alone...no
save better than the one he just made on Brendan Morrison...

Andrew Shaw is back from his suspension...

--------------------

9:46 PM: But it won't matter...we
go to 7...

Captain Alfie was not happy after
taking a hit he thought should have been a penalty - he took his frustration out
on his stick, the bench and his water bottle, and almost caught his team mate
Greening in
the cross fire...the team responded, but couldn't tie the game...

They'll have until Thursday to think
about it...both teams will...they'll settle the score back in Manhattan...

And, yeah...if you're a Sens fan,
you've seen this movie before...Ottawa has never won a Game 7 in 4 previous
attempts...but - in their entire modern history, their record in the playoffs
against the Atlantic Division is respectable - 2003 Conference Finals against
New Jersey, and 2008 Conference Quarter Finals against Pittsburgh - those are
the only two series they've ever lost...1 win each against the Islanders and
Penguins, and 2 wins each against Philadelphia and New Jersey...of course, this
is their first ever series against the Rangers...

Of course, against their own
division - different story...only one series win against the Buffalo Sabres in
2007, every other time they've played Buffalo or Toronto, losses...they've never
played Montreal or Boston...yet...

Against the Southeast, they're 1 and
1...the win against Tampa Bay...the loss coming against Washington...

But the glaring stat in all of this
- 0 for 4 in Game 7...

Scoreless in Chicago after the 1st
period...

--------------------

9:45 PM: 38.4 seconds left...and
it's 3-2...they checked it to make sure it wasn't kicked in, but it was ruled a
goal...

Jason Spezza got credit for the goal
- his 3rd, Colin Greening got an assist, at 19:21 of the 3rd period...I don't
know, looked like Chris Neil nudged it along with his skate - evidently the
ruling was he didn't touch it...

--------------------

9:04 PM: Coach Paul Maclean says he'd like to win the
series, he really would, but stresses the team is still in rebuild mode?!
Are you kidding me?!? Rebuild or not, you made it to the dance, at least
try and get the girl...am I missing something here?!?

Who's telling the Los Angeles Kings
right now that they're going through a rebuild?!?

--------------------

8:52 PM: Ottawa had
46 seconds left on the aforementioned power
play, when Filip Kuba got called for a hook on Ruslan Fedotenko...seconds later,
Nick Foligno, who can't seem to get a break from the referees this season to
save his life, took a marginal goalie interference call - he didn't like it, the
fans didn't like it, and they have a point...Dan Girardi helped him
along...either way, it was a penalty, the Rangers eventually had a 5 on 3 power
play, and Brad Richards made no mistake...2-1...power play goal, at 17:08, from
Michael Del Zotto and Stepan...

The Rangers would score another one before the period was out
- at 19:19 - Chris Kreider with his first career NHL playoff goal, from Stepan
and Marc Staal...

After 40 minutes, the Rangers lead 3-1...looks like Ottawa
has them right where they want them...

The Ottawa 67s are playing Game 3
against the Niagara Ice Dogs, and, like the Sens, are down 2 goals, it's 4-2 in
the 3rd...that series knotted 1-1, pending the outcome of this one...

Face off in Chicago on Game 6
between the Hawks and Dogs, coming in the next 10 minutes...

--------------------

8:37 PM: Tied 1-1
as Brad Richards set up Derek Stepan for
his 1st of the playoffs...goal scored on a power play with Milan Michalek
serving a holding penalty...at 8:55 of the 2nd period, Richards and Anton
Stralman assisted...

The Rangers seemed to gain some momentum from the goal,
but now Ottawa is going on a power play...Chris Kreider sits for goalie
interference...

--------------------

7:52 PM: 20 minutes
in the books at Scotiabank Place, and it's
the Ottawa Senators with a 1-0 lead...

Chris Neil scored his 2nd of the playoffs, a Sergei
Gonchar point shot ricocheted off his skate and in the net...Nick Foligno got a
second assist, a power play goal at 7:05 of the first period while Mike Rupp was
serving a roughing penalty...

Later on in the period, Neil threw down with Brandon
Prust after both teams were taking liberties (Prust on Karlsson, Neil on
Richards)...was a good fight...

We're getting our first playoff look
at Jakob Silfverberg, the young left wing prospect whose claim to fame is he's
beaten Alfie's goal scoring record in the Swedish Elite League...hasn't looked
out of place out there...

--------------------

12:30 PM: TSN and various outlets are all
confirming Alfie will be in the lineup
tonight...they'd better put Chris Neil on his line, as Carl Hagelin is also
eligble to return...

The Bank should be loud and
electric, regardless...

--------------------

11:14 PM: Seems
Eugene Melnyk has put it out there that
Alfie will play tonight...I'm only hearing this second hand,
however...until I hear officially, treat it as a game time decision...

April 22, 2012

10:56 PM: The former
Edmonton Oiler - Jarret Stoll, scored a big
goal in double overtime against Detroit in Game 3 of their 2006 series...6 years
later, he does it again in Game 5, again against the President's Trophy winners
- 4:27 into the first overtime period, Trevor Lewis drew an assist after taking
out Dan Hamhuis, on a play that probably could have passed for a tripping
penalty (at least that's what Vancouver fans will say)...and the Canucks, after going all the way to Game 7 of the
final last spring, are out in 5...

That sigh of relief you hear -
that's coming from the Vancouver Police Department...;)

So St. Louis will now assume the top
seed in the West, and will get the Kings, Nashville will await the winner of
Phoenix-Chicago...

And tomorrow night, another 8th seed
can advance against 1st in the East...Ottawa-New York, 7 PM...Phoenix-Chicago, 9
PM...as the first round is coming down to the wire...

--------------------

10:46 PM: OK...so uLAr
has Mike Richards for the Kings, and no
pick for the Canucks "Good luck tonight Vancouver"...so clearly he believes the
series is over tonight...

Here we go!!

--------------------

10:37 PM: Well, a player
who hadn't scored won the game earlier
(Tyler Seguin)...so, without further ado...

10:06 PM: No scoring
in the second period, but L.A. has come
back to tie it 1-1 in the 3rd...Drew Doughty set up Brad Richardson for his 1st
of the playoffs, at 3:21...shots on goal are 22-19, advantage Kings...

Oddly enough, we haven't had
overtime yet in this series...

--------------------

8:54 PM: We're 20 minutes
into that other series we've all forgotten
about...the one where Los Angeles has a 3-1 lead over Vancouver...and the
Canucks got the start they were looking for, getting on the board first, at
14:04, Henrik Sedin, from brother Daniel and Dan Hamhuis, a power play goal
while Brad Richardson was in the box for roughing...

Anze Kopitar got a late breakaway in
the final seconds of the period, but ran out of time...shot it into the net
anyway, I'm guessing just in case the time keeper wasn't paying attention...the
Kings must be used to that...unfortunately for them, they aren't at the Staples
Center...

Not sure if anybody else noticed
this...the clock read 2:44, at least on the TV Screen, for what seemed like a
long time, before finally changing to 2:26 and counted down from there...not
sure if you can attribute that to the broadcast or to the timekeeper at Rogers
Arena...I know after the incident in L.A., the league implemented a system where
they will allow the timekeeper to delay the clock if it's deemed the time isn't
correct...

1-0, Vancouver, in another must win
for them...

--------------------

6:21 PM: uLAr
calls it for the 2nd straight OT in this series - Seguin
- 1st of the playoffs, 3:17 into the 1st
overtime - assists to Lucic and Krejci...we go to 7!!!

I guess it shouldn't be all that
surprising to see this one go the distance, given this will now be Boston's 6th
playoff series to go the distance since 2009...until last year, their record in
Game 7 wasn't very good, losing to Carolina in 7 in 2009, and to Philadelphia in
2010...they righted the ship, so to speak, last year, winning 3 Game 7s on their
way to the Cup...as for Washington, given their abysmal record in Game 7s, have
to be kicking themselves right now...if history holds true, Ovechkin will have
nightmares about that cross bar all summer...seems to me he did the same thing
against Jaroslav Halak in that Montreal series in 2010...

We'll have to wait until Wednesday
night to see who advances from this one...

--------------------

6:20 PM: Bergeron's deflection of a Krejci shot beats Holtby,
but not the cross bar...

6:00 PM: So the next goal either sends us to Game 7, or dethrones
Boston...we get overtime for the 3rd time in this series...

--------------------

5:56 PM: Down to
the last 90 seconds of regulation time...

--------------------

5:53 PM: Ovie hits the cross bar...

--------------------

5:50 PM: And Ovechkin ties it...look out!!!

Just his 2nd, assist from Nicklas
Backstrom, at 15:08...

3-3...they're chanting Thomas' name...

--------------------

5:45 PM: Andrew Ference's 1st of the playoffs is a big one...after
the Capitals narrowly missed in the Boston zone, Tyler Seguin, who is still
waiting to score in this series, started the rush...while he, along with Milan
Lucic, couldn't solve Holtby, Ference came in as the late trailer and picked up
the garbage...at 11:57 of the 3rd, Seguin with the lone assist (Lucic over
skated it)...

3-2 Bruins...

--------------------

5:06 PM: 40 minutes of Game 6 in the
books...shots are 25-16,
Washington...Bruins will take 2/3 of a power play into the 3rd as they got into
a bit a scrum after the goal...

--------------------

5:02 PM: Brad Marchand got sandwiched in his own end, and that
created a 2 on 1 the other way...Nicklas Backstrom to Jason Chimera - goal, and
tie game...2-2...1st of the playoffs for Chimera, at 19:18...Hamrlik gets his
second assist of the game...

--------------------

4:58 PM: Bruins kill it off...

--------------------

4:55 PM: Caps just got away with too many men on the
ice...they call it an illegal line change? Boston was getting a high
sticking penalty, so instead of 4 on 4, it's a Washington power play...there
were 7 players on the ice...

If they score here, better buy the
ref a bottle of wine...

--------------------

4:38 PM: Could be a key part of this game
and series...1:57 into the 2nd
period, Alex Ovechkin served a double minor for high sticking as his stick
caught Zdeno Chara on the bridge of his nose...they're still trying to stop the
bleeding...Ovechkin would be seen arguing with the referee after the fact, but
he'll have hard time disputing both the DNA evidence, as well as the fact it
would have to be a high stick to catch the tallest player in the league
in the face...Capitals killed off the penalty, anyway, and seem to now have some
momentum...

--------------------

4:03 PM: End of the 1st in Washington...and
Boston's anemic power play seems to be waking up...David Krejci, his first, at
16:48, from Milan Lucic and Peverley...scored while Alex Semin was in the box
for hooking...

3:36 PM: They do change it to Peverley...his 3rd, at 5:56 of
the 1st, from Andrew Ference and Bergeron...

--------------------

3:34 PM: 1-0 Bruins...they
give it to Patrice Bergeron, but looks like it was actually a Rich Peverley
deflection...Bergeron never touched it...Boston will take it, either way...

--------------------

3:16 PM: No Shawn Thornton or Joe Corvo for Boston, Patrice Bergeron
is in...no apparent changes to the Washington lineup...

The NHL ruled there won't be any
supplemental discipline meted out to Chris Neil, as well it shouldn't...don't be
surprised, however, to see John Tortorella get fined...again...

While discussing it amongst the
panel and i-Desk, Ron Maclean got a BBM from Don Cherry - "Leave Tortorella to
me"...my guess is he'll address it on Monday night's Coach's Corner...

--------------------

2:53 PM: Brayden Schenn gets the empty netter with just 7.9 seconds
left...5-1 - Flyers are moving on as they win in 6...

Ottawa fans, pay
attention...depending on the outcome of Florida-New Jersey and
Washington-Boston, if the Sens get by the Rangers, and if Washington gets by
Boston they'll get either Florida or Philly...

Game 6 from Washington, coming up...

--------------------

2:49 PM: Final 3 minutes...Penguins
are on a power play as Philadelphia took one of those puck over the glass delay
of game calls...moments ago they thought they had scored, but Ilya Bryzgalov was
pushed into the net...no goal...

My only question is, will they shake
hands or will the Penguins just leave the ice?...

--------------------

1:59 PM: Shots are almost even after 40 minutes...20-19,
Philly with the slight edge...but where it counts, they have a 3 goal lead, and
once again, they have Pittsburgh by the throat...

But...I don't think I need to remind
the Flyers what they managed to do in the 2nd round against Boston in 2010...a
series they trailed 3-0, and after coming back to tie the series 3-3, they too,
were down 3 goals after 40 minutes...

Does history repeat itself?

--------------------

1:51 PM: Approaching the end of the 2nd
period...and the Flyers are
bound and determined not to go back across Pennsylvania again this season...

5:25 into
the middle frame, Erik Gustafssonscored his first career playoff
goal, a 45 footer past Fleury that Ray Ferraro described as "like having an
anvil dropped on your head"...he'll probably want a mulligan on that one...Braydon
Coburn drew an assist...

At 8:34, Evgeni Malkin got Pittsburgh on the board with an
unassisted marker, but just 34 seconds later, at 9:04, Danny Briere scored his
5th, from Voracek and Matt Carle...

4-1, Philadelphia...

--------------------

12:50 PM: Giroux already with a goal and an assist - set up Scott
Hartnell for his 2nd, on a power play...Jakub Voracek also getting an assist -
at 13:01, it's 2-0...but if the previous five games are any indication, it won't
be enough to win the game...

Pittsburgh actually leads 7-4 on the
shot clock...

That was the 20th power play goal
scored in this series...

--------------------

12:41 PM: Once again, it's Philadelphia with the early lead, in
Game 6...after checking Sidney Crosby off the face off, Claude Giroux went in
and did it all himself with a perfect shot over Marc-Andre Fleury's
shoulder...all this within 32 seconds...it's 1-0, Flyers...Giroux' 6th of the
playoffs...

Has settled down a little bit since then...but plenty
of game left for that to change...

We haven't had overtime in every
game in a series since 1951...that was the Habs-Leafs series where Bill Barilko
scored the winner for Toronto in Game 5...you know, like in the Tragically Hip
song "50 Mission Cap"...true story that...

10:22 PM: The San Jose Sharks are the ones
left singing the Blues...Andy
McDonald scored into an empty net at 19:21, Patrik Berglund got an assist - St.
Louis wins the game 3-1, wins the series in 5 games...only prediction that I've
got right so far...

More importantly - what is to become
of this San Jose team...players like Patrick Marleau, Joe Thornton, the coaching
staff, the management...it'll be a long summer for the team that despite having
been to the Conference Finals twice in the last five years, so much more was
expected of them...

Scoreless between Chicago and
Phoenix, just getting comfortably underway...

--------------------

9:57 PM: Spezza scores his 2nd of the game and series into
an empty net, helped along by Zenon Konopka, at 19:04...Craig Anderson completes
the 41 save shutout, and Ottawa is up 3-2 on the #1 team in the Eastern
Conference, and heading home for Game 6...

John Tortorella was not happy with
Chris Neil for a hit on Brian Boyle...compared it to the Torres hit...a bit of
an exaggeration, I think...on top of that, he accused Neil of being a repeat
offender...not even close...

St. Louis has scored twice in 45 seconds in the 3rd
to now lead San Jose 2-1 - and the fans at the Scotttrade Center can smell it...

Jamie Langenbrunner at 11:16 from Scott Nichol and Vladimir
Sobotka, and David Perron at 12:01 from Alex Pietrangelo and T.J. Oshie...shots
on goal are 26-22 for St. Louis...

--------------------

9:35 PM: Only 1 goal in Game 5 between Ottawa and the NY
Rangers, Jason Spezza at 9:18 of the 1st, 1st NHL playoff assist from Mark
Stone, called up after the Brandon Wheat Kings season was done, as well as Filip
Kuba...

Since then, it's been a battle of the
goalies...there's just shy of 6
minutes left in the 3rd period - the Rangers are on a power play and trying hard
to tie it...shots to this point are 36-28 in favor of New York...

In St. Louis, it's San Jose holding on to a 1-0 lead
thanks to Joe Thornton's 2nd of the playoffs, 19:19 into the 2nd period, Daniel
Winnik and Torrey Mitchell with helpers - that game still has about 15 minutes
left...

--------------------

Game 5 between Florida and New Jersey also had no
goals until the 2nd period...and it was Kris Versteeg exactly 4 minutes into it,
on a power play, Stephen Weiss and Brian Campbell assisted...was still 1-0
Panthers after 40 minutes...

Scottie Upshall would put Florida up 2-0 at 13:17 of the
3rd from Versteeg and Shawn Matthias...

This one would end 3-0, Florida - Tomas Kopecky would get taken out
on a shorthanded rush to the New Jersey empty net, and, well, that counts as a
goal...Panthers are up 3-2 in that series...

--------------------

There was no scoring in the Washington-Boston game
until 11:16 of the 2nd period, when Dennis Wideman and Marcus Johansson set up
Alexander Semin for his 3rd of the playoffs...3 minutes 11 seconds later, at
14:27, Jay Beagle would make it 2-0, unassisted, and all of a sudden the
Capitals led 2-0...it wouldn't stay that way for long, though, as the Bruins
would come back with 2 goals 28 seconds apart...Dennis Seidenberg from Milan
Lucic and David Krejci at 17:21, then Brad Marchand at 17:49, from Rich Peverley
and Johnny Boychuk...it was tied 2-2 after 40 minutes...

In the 3rd, 3:21 in, Mike Knuble would score his 1st of
these playoffs, Joel Ward and John Erskine assisted, and it was 3-2
Caps...Dennis Wideman would take a cross checking penalty and at 8:47, finally,
the Bruins would score their first power play goal of this series, Boychuk from
Seidenberg and Marchand, and we were tied again, 3-3...unfortunately for Boston,
Benoit Pouliot would get called for a slash, late in the game...and the Capitals
scored a power play goal of their own, at 18:33, Troy Brouwer with his 2nd, set
up by John Carlson...4-3 - that would be the game winning goal as Washington
goes up 3-2 in the series, with Game 6 back at the Verizon Center tomorrow
afternoon...

--------------------

3:59 PM: 1st intermission at the TD Garden...no surprise, no score
yet...11-10 the shots on goal, slim advantage to Washington...

Boston is now 0 for 14 on the power play in this
series - it continues to boggle my mind how the Bruins continue to survive
without a power play that can score...it's just unbelievable with the lineup
they have...

Although, on the other side of the
ledger, one could argue the Capitals are only in this series for 1 reason -
their goalie...their power play hasn't been much better, it's 2 for 13...

More on all the action later -
should be back before the late game, or sooner...

--------------------

2:54 PM: Washington-Boston about to get going, in about 15 minutes
time...going to try and get a workout in...I'll check in at the 1st
intermission...

New Jersey-Florida is a 6:30 PM
start, Ottawa-New York, 7:00, and San-Jose-St. Louis, 7:30...Chicago-Phoenix is
the late game, at 10:00...

The Sunday games have start times
now as well...Pittsburgh-Philadelphia, at noon (note to self)- Boston-Washington
goes on back-to-back days - Game 6 starts at 3:00 again, and Game 5 of
L.A.-Vancouver is 8:00 PM...

There could be as many as three
games on Monday night, or as little as one...depends on whether or not Phoenix
and St. Louis close out their respective series tonight...New York-Ottawa Game 6
is for sure...

As always, all times eastern...

--------------------

2:45 PM: Some of the key points of Shanahan's decision - if
you watch the video on NHL.com, he illustrates all of this with video evidence -
I still think it's really cool they do the video for every supplemental
discipline decision:

"This is a violation of three
NHL rules – interference, charging and illegal check to the head."

"In addition to the fact that
three separate NHL rules were violated with this one hit, two other factors
were critical in determining the appropriate length of suspension:

"First, this violent and
dangerous hit caused a severe injury.

"Second, Torres not only is a
repeat offender as defined by the CBA, his extensive Supplemental Discipline
history consists mainly of acts very similar to this one – including two this
season." (In the video, he shows 5 examples dating back as far as 2007)

"Despite knowing that Hossa
no longer has the puck, Torres decides to finish his check past the amount of
time when Hossa is eligible to be bodychecked. That is a violation of the
Interference rule."

"While we acknowledge the
circumstances of certain hits may cause a player's skates to come off the ice,
on this hit, Torres launches himself into the air before making contact. This
is a violation of the Charging rule."

"The position of Hossa's head
does not change just prior to or simultaneous with this hit. The onus,
therefore, is on Torres not to make it the principal point of contact. By
leaping, Torres makes Hossa's head the principal point of contact. That is a
violation of the Illegal Check to the Head rule."

Phoenix Coyotes General Manager Don Maloney released this
statement:

"I
want to thank Brendan Shanahanand his staff for their thorough review of this
incident," said Maloney. "The ruling is very severe for Raffi and our Hockey
Club. Raffi plays a hard, physical game yet this contact crossed the line on
what is acceptable in our game today. We hope Marian Hossa makes a
full and speedy recovery as we all enjoy watching him perform. The Club accepts
the NHL's decision and will focus on our game tonight."

--------------------

1:05 PM: Wow!!! Just Wow!!!!!

25 games for Raffi Torres...the NHL is at least
guaranteeing he won't play again this season...if Phoenix were to go all the
way, and the distance in every series, that would be 25 possible playoff
games...Shanahan went on to say if he the suspension is not completed in these
playoffs, it will carry over into the regular season - furthermore, the
preseason will not count...

Looks like they want to send a big
message to repeat offenders - as Shanahan showed 5 previous hits that Raffi was
suspended for...not to mention the hit in last year's playoffs on Brent
Seabrook, which he didn't receive anything for, and the fact this particular
play was not penalized, wasn't even mentioned...

As you can imagine - reaction is
already mixed...best one I've seen yet - somebody tweeted "The irony in the
suspension - Torres probably never saw it coming"...somebody else suggested
perhaps the Phoenix announcers should be suspended for the same length of time
for calling it a clean hit...

And I thought the Aaron Rome
suspension last year was big...I've got a feeling we'll be hearing about this
for awhile...

Wow!!!

April 20, 2012

10:44 PM: And I'll leave you with this
thought for tonight...even with
the Habs not participating in the playoffs, somehow they still manage to stage
riots in Montreal...no less than 3 student unions are protesting the Quebec
government's plans to increase tuition fees...and it really came to a
head today...

Now, time for movie night in Adam's
basement...

--------------------

10:31 PM: And...it's over...as
the Predators, fans, and Carrie Underwood cheer...Nashville wins the game 2-1,
wins the series in 5 games, and the Detroit Red Wings are out...

And once again, I ask - is this it
for Nick Lidstrom?! And more importantly - have we just witnessed a
passing of the torch here?!

--------------------

10:20 PM: The Penguins'
farm team are in for a good one too...the AHL Calder Cup playoffs got underway
yesterday, and Wilkes Barre/Scranton are matched up with the Hershey Bears, who
are in as the Eastern Conference's 8th seed...the Pens lead that series 1-0
after a 3-1 win in Game 1...

Of note - not surprising, really, considering some
key components of last year's Calder Cup championship team got to play in Ottawa
this year, the Binghamton Senators did not qualify...

And, don't feel bad for Toronto - the Marlies are in the playoffs, and are up
1-0 on Rochester...

The Winnipeg Jets' farm team, the St. John's Ice Caps, are
playing the Syracuse Crunch...

In other words...only
Ottawa and Montreal's AHL affiliates failed to make the playoffs...oddly enough,
as well, Boston's affiliate, Providence, didn't make it for the 2nd straight
season...

--------------------

10:12 PM: It didn't look possible last
Sunday, but this 1st round Philadelphia-Pittsburgh
series will go to a 6th game...in fact, all of the Eastern Conference 1st round
series will go at least 6...3-2 is now a final score...

Game 6 in Philadelphia on Sunday afternoon - is it the Gong Show
Revisited, and, more importantly, do we go to 7?!

Mitchell Theoret
is the hero for the Niagara Icedogs, 5:10 into the 1st overtime period...and
despite a 48 save performance by Petr Mrazek, they draw first blood against
Ottawa...

9 minutes left in Nashville, and
possibly Detroit's season...

--------------------

10:04 PM: 2 minute warning in Pittsburgh...

They're tied 1-1, and in the first overtime period, in
Niagara Falls...

--------------------

10:00 PM: David Legwand gets the Nashville lead back...he helped
Radulov get his first of the playoffs, now Radulov returned the favor...early in
the 3rd period, just 13 seconds in...it's 2-1 Preds...

--------------------

9:49 PM: The Flyers are pressing the issue, but Marc-Andre
Fleury is shutting the door...only took him four games to find his form...can
actually say that about both goalies in this game...as expected, it's been a
tight one...this is what I and I'm sure everybody else expected out of this
series from the very beginning...

Just over 8 minutes left...they'rejust about ready for the 3rd period in Nashville...

--------------------

9:32 PM: Pittsburgh came back with 2 goals in the 2nd period,
both even strength - Jordan Staal with his 6th, from Tyler Kennedy and Kris
Letang at 6:15, then Kennedy with his 3rd, at 9:53, from Matt Cooke and Staal...

It's now 3-2 Penguinos,
now in the 3rd...

Nashville scored first, Alex Radulov from David Legwand, at 16:10
of the 1st, but Detroit has tied it...Jiri Hudler's 2nd at 13:45 of the 2nd,
Valtteri Filppula and Henrik Zetterberg assisted...1-1 in Tennessee...

And they're still scoreless in St.
Catharines between the 67s and Icedogs...in the 3rd period...

--------------------

8:20 PM: 1st intermission in the Pitts...

Brendan Shanahan's decision on Raffi
Torres will be announced on Saturday...

--------------------

8:13 PM: Scott Hartnell scores his first of the playoffs, on a 5 on
3 power play, at 17:35, Kimmo Timonen and Claude Giroux getting points...2-1,
Philly...

--------------------

8:05 PM: There was a lot made back in November over
Philadelphia playing catch in a game against Tampa, daring them to fore check,
rather than play their typical 1-3-1 trap style...

Well, the Kitchener Rangers did the same thing to
the London Knights, in Game 1 of their semi final series, daring them to, as
Jeff Marek put it, play hockey...

After one period,
Ottawa and Niagara are scoreless, while London took Game 1 against Kitchener
3-2, in OT...

What I want
to know, though - couldn't the referee call a delay of game penalty for that?

Meanwhile, the Penguins have just scored to tie 1-1...Steve Sullivan's
2nd power play goal, assists Kris Letang and James Neal, at 14:51...

Detroit-Nashville, the puck has just
dropped...

--------------------

7:59 PM: So if series history indicates anything,
Pittsburgh will win Game 5...in the first 4 games, the team that scored first
has lost every game...Philadelphia gets the first goal, Matt Carle with his 1st
of the playoffs, with just 2 seconds left on a power play, at 11:45 of the 1st
period...Matt Read and Jaromir Jagr the set up men...1-0 Flyers...for now...

--------------------

7:56 PM: Almost halfway through the 1st period of Game 5
between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and shockingly, nothing to report yet...no
goals, no assists, no fights, and only two penalties...

Detroit-Nashville, in about 10
minutes...and that's it tonight for Stanley Cup action...2 games...

3rd round gets underway in the OHL,
WHL and QMJHL...Sportsnet's "Friday Night Hockey" has the 67s-Icedogs Game 1...

1:23 AM: Hmmm...so
like always, Gary Bettman doesn't see a problem with anything...the man can
speak and speak well, I'll give him that...

He said something that I found very
intriguing (but true) - this year, more than in years past, in the
playoffs, it seems we've hit the ground running - the usual sense is that it
takes until Game 3 or 4 for a series to really amp up, but no so this year - the
players seem to have taken the game to an intensity level that's higher than
perhaps even they imagined, right from the drop of the first puck...

And...when he gets somebody on the
phone like the Pittsburgh fan who thought the officiating in Game 4 was not very
good, his arguments/defense as to why he feels confident there isn't anything wrong with
the game or the officiating or the supplemental discipline are all the more
compelling...I guess that fan has a short memory...of the 10 goals the Pens
scored in Game 4, 4 of them were on the power play - given Philadelphia only
scored 3 times, they still would have won the game on special teams
alone...yeah, officiating was horrible alright...how about stating the obvious -
the goalies on both sides have been horrible...

Still not too sure I agree with his
100% backing of Brendan Shanahan and decisions made by the Department of Player
Safety...I wouldn't expect anything less from him, but one has to wonder what's
really going on there...we've seen the inside of a dressing room, what
say we get HBO in on one of these General Manager meetings, or NHL board
meetings, or even eavesdrop on a conference call with the NHLPA...now that
would be a reality show I want to see...I'm already chomping at the bit to
see the next 24-7...hope Brian Burke doesn't bitch too much about being followed
around with a camera crew...

Anyhow, St. Louis takes a 3-1 series lead
home for Game 5 - both teams traded goals in the 3rd - San Jose could not score
the tying goal...

Andy McDonald put the Blues up 2-0,
at exactly 12 minutes of the 3rd, a power play goal scored while Patrick Marleau
was serving an interference minor, with another assist each given to Berglund
and Perron...

Joe Thornton would score to break
the shutout, late, at 18:53, with Logan Couture and Brent Burns helping
out...close, but no cigar...

2-1 was the final...and now every
Western series is at 3-1...all but one Eastern series is tied 2-2...

Bettman made note of this - home ice
advantage is not so much in the 32 games that have been played so far (28 as of
showtime)...even tonight only 2 of the 4 home teams won...

Think I figured out the wacky
schedule...they seem to be, now, after everybody has played four games, working
backwards...so Friday night, we have only two games, and they're both Game 5 of
the 4-5 matchups...the reason Vancouver appears to be the last to play Game 5 is
they finished first overall...or at least that's my read into it...

--------------------

12:09 AM: St. Louis is still up 1-0, now at the 2nd intermission...

Heard Darren Dreger during the first intermission mention that
Ottawa could have their 2011 first round draft pick Mika Zibanejad in their
lineup for Game 6...that will be interesting...they could also call upon Stefan
Noesen, whose season with the OHL's Plymouth is also done...

Back to Mr. Bettman...say what you
will about technology, but being able to pause live or recorded radio and TV is
something I could only dream of as a kid...hell, without technology, this very
blog wouldn't even be possible...

April 19, 2012

11:09 PM: I can't tell you what, if
anything, it means, but I have a cactus on my kitchen counter,
which up until now had what appeared to be 2 new arms growing out of it...just
noticed a 3rd sprouting through the bottom...

And here's what will really blow you
away...the new growth is close to a stone that has the word "Believe" on it...

--------------------

10:51 PM: Well, clearly we're all missing something with
this Mikkel Boedker kid...2nd straight game, 2nd straight overtime winner, 2nd
of the playoffs...on the road...just 2:15 into the 1st overtime, Boyd Gordon and
Keith Yandle sent him in all alone on Crawford...Coyotes win 3-2, lead the
series 3-1, and can win the series on Saturday...Phoenix has never been out of
the first round since the team moved out of Winnipeg...wouldn't that be
something - Winnipeg gets a team again, Phoenix wins their first playoff
series...we'll have to wait and see...

Game 5, Saturday night from cactus
land...odd that there won't be a HNIC late game...

St. Louis' B.J. Crombeen gets it going
early...1-0...from Patrik Berglund and David Perron, at 7:12 of the 1st...

Going to prepare my coffee maker for
tomorrow, tune in to the NHL Hour and maybe even HNIC Radio...provided nothing
happens in between, will check in just before midnight...

Guess it's just as well, my Stiletto is recording the 10 PM repeat
of Gary Bettman's NHL Hour...when I actually get to hear it remains to be
seen...

--------------------

10:28 PM: This is a recording...we
are going to overtime...

Again...every
game in this series...6th straight playoff overtime for Chicago...

Last time a Stanley Cup Playoff
series went to overtime in every one of the first four games - 1951 Stanley Cup
Final...it doesn't happen very often...

--------------------

10:25 PM: R U freaking kidding me!?? 1:26 remaining and Michael Frolik has tied
it for Chicago...just as they got Corey Crawford off the ice...

2-2...Chicago
does it again!!...

18:34 the time of the goal, Dave
Bolland and Johnny Oduya assisted...

--------------------

10:21 PM: "♪
And you can have it all...my empire of
dirt...I will let you down...I will make you hurt
♫..."

--------------------

10:13 PM: Patrice Bergeron was absolutely pick-pocketed by Holtby at
the buzzer...the shot was labeled top shelf, but Holtby got the glove up and
made the save...grand larceny...a 44 save performance...final shot tally, 45-21,
Boston...

Capitals win 2-1,
series tied 2-2...

Give the Toews goal to Brendan
Morrison...his first of the playoffs, Toews and Niklas Hjalmarsson assisted...

--------------------

10:11 PM: Can't get much closer than
that...Holtby holds the fort on
the goal line...time out, Washington...

Jonathan Toews ends Mike Smith's shutout hopes, at 10:25,
2-1...

--------------------

10:08 PM: Perhaps anticipating a late Hawks comeback, Phoenix
adds another...Taylor Pyatt with his 2nd of the playoffs from Antoine Vermette
and Radim Vrbata...just 44 seconds after the Doan goal, at 7:47...2-0 Coyotes...

Empty net, Boston, as the Bruins attempt to tie Washington in
the final minute...Capitals still holding on to a 2-1 lead...

--------------------

10:04 PM: The bubble finally bursts in
Chicago...Shane Doan puts the
Coyotes up 1-0 , 7:03 into the 3rd...Ray Whitney draws an assist...

--------------------

9:40 PM: Still no score between the Dogs and Hawks...Chicago
thought they had scored, but they couldn't beat the buzzer...40 minutes of Game
4 in the books...

4-0 is a final score in New Jersey - Martin Brodeur gets his 101st career NHL
playoff win, 24th career playoff shutout, and the series is tied 2-2...not
surprisingly, it got a little chippy towards the end of the game, but nothing
major to report...shots on
goal were almost even...27-26, New Jersey...

Brodeur now surpasses Patrick Roy
for 1st on the all time list for most NHL playoff shutouts...what can I say,
he's the Wayne Gretzky of goaltending...

--------------------

9:17 PM: 2nd Intermission in the U.S.
Capital...shots are somewhat
more respectable...32-18, still a wide margin by Boston, but at least now it's
closer to 2-1 instead of 4-1...oddly enough, despite out shooting the Capitals
almost 2-1, the Bruins are down 2-1 on the scoreboard

--------------------

9:14 PM: Alex Semin blows it by Thomas...2-1
Washington...power play goal assisted by Keith Aucoin and Alex Ovechkin, at
18:43 of the 2nd...

--------------------

9:10 PM: ...and they do...4-0
Devils thanks to Ilya Kovalchuk's 2nd of the playoffs, on a power play at 8:32
of the 3rd - Peter Harrold and Bryce Salvador assisted...

Don't let anybody tell me
Kovy hasn't earned his money this year...

--------------------

8:59 PM: Bernier from Stephen Gionta and Brodeur, at 2:02 of
the 3rd...then Travis Zajac with his 2nd from David Clarkson and Bryce Salvador at 3:38...and Clemmensen stays in net...

3-0, Devils...if
they know what's good for them, they better get another one...

--------------------

8:57 PM: Steve Bernier has his first of the playoffs, Devils are
up 2-0...

Better make that 3-0...

--------------------

8:51 PM: No score after 20 minutes in Chicago...3rd period in
NJ should be starting any second now...

I'm not sure if anybody outside of
Washington expected Braden Holtby to be this good in net...the score should
probably be 4-1 Boston by now, but it's still tied 1-1...shots are 25-6...and
we're not even halfway through the game yet...

--------------------

8:35 PM: End of the 2nd in Newark...Devils
still lead 1-0...

--------------------

8:29 PM: Martin Brodeur is
back in the zone tonight...

End of the 1st in Washington...tied
1-1...shots are 14-3, Boston...

--------------------

8:23 PM: So I guess
the referees aren't going to miss anything in this one...Paul Bissonnette fought
with Brandon Bollig, and got 5 for the fight, 10 minute misconduct and a game
misconduct...looks like he didn't keep his sweater strapped on...just 5:24 into
the 1st...look for a Tweet about it any time now...I can see it now..."so at
least one of four guys caught me with my shirt off...heading to Five Guys for a
hamburger..."

--------------------

8:19 PM: Phoenix-Chicago just underway...

--------------------

8:09 PM: 1-0 Devils...Zach Parise...2nd
of the playoffs, power play goal at 6:08 of the 2nd, Travis Zajac and Marek
Zidlicky assisted...

--------------------

8:07 PM: 1-1 between Boston and Washington - Rich Peverley went
five hole on Braden Holtby...at 13:12 of the 1st, assist by Greg Campbell...

--------------------

7:42 PM: Marcus Johansson gets his first of the playoffs, just 1:22
into the 1st period, Brooks Laich with the lone assist - Washington up 1-0 early
in Game 4...Johansson replaces the suspended Backstrom on the Ovechkin line...

Still scoreless in New Jersey...end of the 1st period
now...

--------------------

7:36 PM: So the NHL did not give Joel Quenneville a pass for
his comments to NBC...they fined him $10,000...totally not fair...especially
given Raffi Torres' hearing isn't until tomorrow, thanks to a request from the
NHLPA...one has to think this will be a very hotly debated topic when the next
CBA is agreed upon...

--------------------

7:33 PM: You know, if Tim Thomas played for Washington and had
a red chest protector like the yellow one he has, he'd look like Spiderman...

--------------------

7:26 PM: OK, that's it...I
need to move to Florida...commit to a season ticket package for the Panthers for
next season, and Game 5 of this series is free?!?! Did I hear that
right!?? Too bad just about everything else in that area is
not as affordable...(try going to a grocery store in Miami...ouch!! All I
can say is thank God for Wal-Mart and Target...)...

--------------------

7:15 PM: Four games tonight...three
of them starting within a half hour of each other...this is going to be fun
trying to keep track...somebody needs to come out with a triple or quadruple
tuner...I figure if you can put multiple hard drives and processors in a
computer, why not in a PVR? I need Marty McFly's TV...that's what I
need...while we're at it, somebody hurry up and invent one of those Hydrator
ovens...we've got three years...;)

Game 4, Florida and New Jersey...already starting
off better than the last two games, neither team has scored a goal yet and the
game is almost 5 minutes old...it's a duel between Martin Brodeur and the former
backup, Scott Clemmensen...

Boston-Washington Game 4 is a 7:30 start, Phoenix-Chicago is
an 8:00 start...and St. Louis-San Jose - 10:30...

--------------------

12:56 AM: Vancouver staves off elimination after winning Game 4
by a score of 3-1...

In the 3rd, the Sedin brothers connected for another
power play goal to give them insurance - Henrik scored at 5:45 from Hamhuis and
Daniel...

So here's the good news - nobody's getting swept in
the 1st round...

Here's the bad news - 3 teams could be done in 5...

Game 5 between L.A. and Vancouver isn't until Sunday?!?

April 18, 2012

11:48 PM: Because I know you're just dying to know...when was
the last time a team scored at least 10 goals in an NHL playoff game?
April 10, 1990 - the Los Angeles Kings put 12 on the board against the Calgary
Flames in Game 4 of the Smythe Division semifinal...after edging the Flames 2-1
in OT in Game 3, the Kings exploded to a 12-4 win, to go up 3-1 in the
series...22 years and 8 days ago...L.A. would win that series in 6 games, but
they'd get swept by Edmonton in the 2nd round...

I kind of figured Edmonton held the
record, they outscored L.A. 13-3 on April 9, 1987...pretty sure Gretzky was big
in that game too...

Ironic that the Kings were on both
ends of the spectrum...

--------------------

11:33 PM: Kevin Bieksa one times a 65 footer past Quick...David
Booth set him up, time of the goal 8:36 of the 2nd...

2-1 Canucks...

There appears to be a contingent of Vancouver fans not
far from the broadcast booth...I wonder if they have intentions of leaving the
Staples Center in one piece...those fans in L.A. are crazy...

--------------------

11:28 PM: So they still have the Eric Cartman "Go Kings Go"
chant...was wondering about that...one would think a kid from Colorado would
cheer for the Avalanche, but what do I know?!?

--------------------

11:22 PM: 1st power play goal for Vancouver in this series...and their
first goal in almost 88 minutes...Alex Edler, his 2nd, at 4:07 of the 2nd period
- it's tied 1-1...Colin Fraser was sitting for a trip...Dan Hamhuis and Daniel
Sedin get helpers on the play...

10:49 PM: Anze Kopitar gives the Kings a
1-0 lead...at exactly 13 minutes
of the 1st, Justin Williams and Willie Mitchell getting in on the goal...how
sweet will this series victory be for Mitchell if the Kings pull off the upset?

--------------------

10:33 PM: 1st of the playoffs for Kyle
Turris, and it couldn't come at a better
time...2:42 into the 1st overtime period of Game 4, Jim O'Brien and Sergei
Gonchar assisted...Sens win 3-2, and not only is this series deadlocked 2-2, so
far it's the only one guaranteed to go 6 games...

10-3 is now a final score...Penguins
stave off elimination but still trail the series 3-1, heading back to the
Consol...too bad they tore down the Igloo...but I think they sent a big message
tonight - they're back...but is it too late? Game 5, Friday night...

--------------------

10:17 PM: Daniel Sedin
returns for Vancouver...

Just seeing in the headlines that Dick Clark has passed
away at age 82...heart attack...

--------------------

10:12 PM: We go to overtime in Game 4 in Ottawa...Senators
need this one...

Nothing to report in Philadelphia
since the 10th Pittsburgh goal...

--------------------

10:00 PM: There's only been one penalty in the 3rd, but now Nick
Foligno goes for a trip on Ryan Callahan...still tied 2-2 with 5:25 left...

--------------------

9:55 PM: Malkin thought he had his 2nd of the game in the 1st, but
he definitely does now...4:04 of the 3rd, from Kunitz and Kennedy...

10-3...can't
remember the last time a team scored 10 goals in a playoff game...tonight the
Philadelphia goaltending has been questionable, while Fleury appears to have
settled down...

--------------------

9:44 PM: Craig Anderson made a down but not out snow angel
save...might have saved the series right there...or at least this game...

--------------------

9:33 PM: Spezza is back for the 3rd...but
Jesse Winchester will not return...upper body injury...

--------------------

9:29 PM: End of the 2nd in Philly couldn't come fast enough for
the Flyers...will keep an eye on this game, but can the Penguins really blow a 6
goal lead in 20 minutes?!?

3rd period about to get underway in
Ottawa...

--------------------

9:21 PM: Here's where it starts to get ugly...Zac Rinaldo took
out Zbynek Michalek in the corner with a couple of cross checks, and a punch to
the head for good measure...double minor, cross check, 10 minute and a game
misconduct...his night is over...

And here comes 10...one would
think...

--------------------

9:19 PM: Don't think you'll see hats on the ice in Philly, but
Jordan Staal has a hat trick, at 16:03, assist by Deryk Engelland...9-3...

--------------------

9:15 PM: So much for the 3 goal hex...and
so much for the Philly goalie change...it's 8-3, Pittsburgh...Pascal Dupuis, the
oddly quiet Pascal Dupuis has added his 2nd...Kunitz assisted, at 14:59...

Still 4 1/2 minutes left, while the Sens are already at the 2nd
intermission...

--------------------

9:11 PM: Steve Sullivan with a power play goal at 10:55, assist
from the goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury...7-3, Penguinos...I can't hear you Scotty
Ferrall...but I hope you're enjoying...

Ottawa has just tied it...2-2...on
a power play with Artem Anisimov in the box...17:50 of the 2nd, Sergei Gonchar
from Nick Foligno and Chris Neil...the dreaded Neil/Foligno combination...

Unfortunately for Ottawa, though, Jason Spezza has left the game
after taking an elbow to the head from Marc Staal...

--------------------

8:56 PM: Jordan Staal's 2nd of the game and 4th of the playoffs
makes it 6-3, Penguins...Tyler Kennedy and Letang getting points, at 7:21, for
once, the Penguins are playing their game and getting it done on the
power play...but here's the bad news...it's the dreaded 3 goal lead...more bad
news...both teams have 3 power play goals...

--------------------

8:50 PM: Milan Michalek has finally scored his 1st of these
playoffs, and the Senators are on the board...

Pittsburgh up 5-3, and Ilya Bryzgalov has been yanked...Sergei
Bobrovsky is now in goal...

The second Malkin goal is now Sidney Crosby's 3rd from
Niskanen and Malkin...

The 5-3 goal was Kris Letang, on a power play, at 3:07
of the 2nd, from Crosby and Sullivan...

Michalek's goal in Ottawa, at 7:04 of the 2nd, Matt Carkner out of the
penalty box and Jason Spezza assisted...

8:24 PM: Stats on the Staal goal - his 3rd of the playoffs, Eric Tangradi and Matt
Cooke assisted...at 17:29...

It's the classic cliché...the best
players have to be the best players...

--------------------

8:20 PM: 2 goals now from Pittsburgh...Malkin's 2nd of the
period, from Crosby, at 16:19, and Jordan Staal has just scored...

4-3, Pens...it's
another back and forth one...

End of the 1st period in
Ottawa...still the Rangers with a 2-0 lead...

--------------------

8:15 PM: 3-2 Flyers...more
penalty trouble for Pittsburgh...Chris Kunitz for interference at 13:02, Brooks
Orpik for cross checking at 13:28, and Matt Cooke for cross checking at
13:52...Kimmo Timonen and Jakub Voracek have both scored goals on the power
play, Timonen at 15:06, from Giroux and Danny Briere, Voraceck at 15:52, assists
from Simmonds and Hartnell-down...

--------------------

7:56 PM: You can add assists from Pascal Dupuis and Richard
Park to the Malkin goal...

The Pens have added another one...Matt Niskanen from
Crosby and Sullivan, power play goal at 8:05...2-1, Pittsburgh...

Claude Giroux's 5th, also on a power play, at 1:14 with Steve
Sullivan sitting for a high stick...Jaromir Jagr and Wayne Simmonds
assisting...but Evgeni Malkin has tied it at 3:37...the goal was unassisted...

Rangers have gone up 2-0...Ryan Callahan's 2nd...another
power play goal for New York...the Senators are not doing themselves any favors
with their best defenseman (Karlsson) in the box...

--------------------

7:42 PM: Early power play
for the Rangers with Zack Smith taking a boarding penalty...and the Rangers are
up 1-0 thanks to Anton Stralman's 2nd of the playoffs...

Philly has scored too...more
to come...

--------------------

7:34 PM: No Alfie for Game 4 between Ottawa and New York...in
Philadelphia, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be missing James Neal, Craig Adams
and Arron Asham, all to suspension...heard some very interesting comments out of
Philly these past few days - the fans there want to know why if James Neal got a
1 game suspension, why then, didn't Sidney Crosby get suspended, fined, or
anything...interesting...

I'll be doing the picture in picture
tonight as both games are on at the same time...Philly wins, they complete the
sweep...but that's not why I'll have my eye on both games...I heard somebody say
there's the potential for fireworks...;)...

And of course, Los Angeles can
complete the sweep tonight against Vancouver with a win...

Raffi Torres is suspended pending a
hearing Friday...this could be a big one, folks...no further word on Marian
Hossa, only that he is out of hospital...must have a hell of a headache today I
would imagine...

--------------------

12:13 AM: Mikkel Boedker scores his first career NHL Playoff goal,
and it's a big one at 13:15 of the 1st overtime...Taylor Pyatt was on the ice
and drew an assist along with Rosti Klesla...3-2, Desert Dogs win and take a 2-1
series lead...the goal was another one that looked like the Patrick Kane Stanley
Cup winner...seems to be the theme of the night...

One last note for the night, as
somewhat of a foreshadow into tomorrow night and (maybe) beyond...perhaps the
Penguins and Canucks can draw some inspiration from it - the Halifax Mooseheads
did it...down 0-3 in their series, they came back to force Game 7, which they
won - they needed OT to do it, but they did it...Nathan MacKinnon had three
assists on the night, including a helper on Jonathan Drouin's GWG 14:58 into the
1st overtime...so the Mooseheads move on, the Quebec Remparts and Patrick Roy go
home...

uLAr goes with Jonathan Toews for
Chicago and Adrian Aucoin for Phoenix...

--------------------

11:32 PM: We do indeed have OT...again...

Reports indicate Marian Hossa has
been released from hospital...

You can be sure to see a lot of
people wearing these shirts in Philadelphia tomorrow: "Guess what - we don't
like you either!"...

--------------------

11:27 PM: 3 goals in 65 seconds...and
it's tied 2-2...now with 4:45 left in the 3rd...

Rostislav Klesla started the onslaught, with the 1-1 tying
goal at 8:16, Michael Frolik put Chicago back up 2-1 at 8:49, and Ray Whitney
tied it 2-2 at 9:21...Mikkel Boedker, Boyd Gordon, Klesla and Daymond Langkow
all getting assists for Phoenix, and Seabrook and Bolland on the Chicago goal...

Do we get OT for the 3rd straight
game in this series?

--------------------

10:58 PM: 1 game suspension for Washington's Nicklas Backstrom...as
Sheriff Shanahan now most likely will start looking at the Torres hit...

Still 1-0, Hawks...3rd period just
getting started...

--------------------

10:41 PM: Thought we were going to see a goalie fight at the end
of the 2nd period in Chicago...Mike Smith and Corey Crawford had words for each
other, but cooler heads prevailed...the way these playoffs have gone so far, a
goalie fight wouldn't have been out of the realm of possibility...almost a shame
it didn't happen...but if you're either goalie, in a tight series like this, do
you really want to risk future suspension or ejection from the game?

The two captains had words for each
other that lasted through the TV break before finally both teams retreated to
their respective dressing rooms...

Kerry Fraser, in his "C'mon Ref!"
segment on TSN, indicated Raffi Torres should have been assessed a 5 minute
major for charging and a game misconduct...evidently Chicago coach Joel
Quenneville felt the same way...telling NBC he can't believe 4 people missed it,
referring of course to the referees, but indirectly...the NHL announced they
were coming down hard on criticism about the officiating...I think they have to
give Joel a pass on that one, though, after seeing one of his best players
getting carted out on a stretcher...

--------------------

10:30 PM: Somehow with the goalie pulled and a 6 on 5 advantage,
Henrik Zetterberg managed to get called for high sticking Shea Weber, at
19:04...then at 19:21, the Detroit native, David Legwand, scored a goal Jimmy
Howard will want back...3-1, Predators win Game 4, 3-1, Predators lead the
series, heading home to kick the tires...Detroit out shot Nashville 41-17...

The NHL has announced their
decisions for James Neal and Arron Asham - Neal gets 1 game, Asham gets 4
games...Asham might have to wait until next season to finish serving his...

--------------------

10:03 PM: Back in Detroit...Alex
Radulov set up Gabriel Bourque for his 3rd of the playoffs, at 1:55 of the 3rd,
and the scoreless tie was broken...Nashville would then get called for too many
men on the ice at 2:44...and Detroit's Jiri Hudler would score on the power
play, exactly 30 seconds later, at 3:14, assists by Niklas Kronwall and Kyle
Quincey...Nashville has made up for the blunder, however, as Kevin Klein has his
2nd of the playoffs at 6:25, thanks in part to Martin Erat...

There's just slightly more than 9 minutes left...

And they gave the Chicago goal to
Andrew Brunette, with Kane and Nick Leddy assisting, at 19:31 of the
1st...they're now in the 2nd period...

--------------------

9:42 PM: Brett Gustavsen must study Patrick Kane's game...the goal
was similar to the one that won Chicago the Stanley Cup in 2010...the
celebration was similar...the goal was scored just 2:09 into the extra frame,
and the 67s advance to the Eastern Conference final where #1 will face #2...no
upsets in the East so far...

We have goals in Detroit and in Chicago...just
moments after the Patrick Kane-like goal, Kane himself scores with 28 seconds
left in the 1st period for the Hawks...

--------------------

9:37 PM: Florida wins Game 3, 4-3, leads the series 2-1...Gord
Miller called it...the Devils probably wish they'd never left the
Meadowlands...lots of game still left in this series, though...

Overtime underway in Ottawa...

They just showed Gary Bettman in the
crowd in Chicago...can't wait to hear the NHL Hour on Thursday...

9:24 PM: The Ottawa 67s were almost on their way to the 3rd round -
tied 2-2, they scored to make it 3-2, with just 24 seconds left and the crowd at
the J. Benson Centre on their feet...then a waved off icing call allowed Barrie
to make one last rush, and the Winnipeg Jets' 1st rounder, Mark Scheifele, tied
it with 8 seconds left...tied 3-3...Game 7 is going to OT...

Kitchener has won their game
6-3...they will move on to face London...

Still scoreless in Detroit after 40 minutes, Florida still
up 4-3 in New Jersey with 5:30 left...and Phoenix-Chicago is just underway...

The channel surfing is on now!!!

--------------------

8:57 PM: Nashville just got away with
one...David Legwand had his
glove over the puck in the crease in an attempt to clear it away from Pekka
Rinne...referee was right there, didn't make the call...

8:42 PM: 2nd intermission at The Rock...still 4-3, Florida...2nd
period just started in Detroit...

--------------------

8:27 PM: Nothing yet to report in Detroit in Game 4 against
Nashville...

Meanwhile, Florida has come all the way back,
something neither team was able to do in the first two games, and now leads New
Jersey 4-3, in the 2nd...

Towards the end of the 1st period, New Jersey got into
penalty trouble...Patrik Elias took an unsportsmanlike penalty at 15:16, and 55
seconds into the power play, at 16:11, Sean Bergenheim got Florida on the
board...Scottie Upshall and even the goalie, Scott Clemmensen, got
assists...before the period was over, Bryce Salvador and Steve Bernier both got
into it with Scottie Upshall, and all three got called for roughing...4 on 3, at
19:52...Mr. Garrison, Jason that is, scored his first career NHL playoff goal,
Bergenheim and Brian Campbell helped out...after 20 minutes, all of a sudden it
was 3-2...again...

2:18 into the 2nd, Mike Weaver tied it 3-3...that
goal assisted by Jerred Smithson and Upshall...Martin Brodeur's night would be
over, in came Johan Hedberg...then the penalty woes continue...Petr Sykora got
called for a high stick on Tomas Fleischmann at 5:22...Fleischmann and Mikhail
Samuelsson would set up Brian Campbell at 6:34 for his 1st of the playoffs and
what is presently the go ahead goal...4-3, Panthers...

So, I watch all but five minutes ofthe first period of Nashville-Detroit, and this is what happens...3-0...the
most dangerous lead in hockey...yet again...

They're now at the 1st intermission,
still scoreless...

OHL Playoffs - Game 7, Ottawa
67s-Barrie Colts, tied 1-1 after 40 minutes...winner gets Niagara in the Eastern
Conference final...in Game 7 of the Western Conference semi-final between
Kitchener and Plymouth, the Rangers are up 4-2, also heading into the
3rd...winner gets London...

In the WHL...Edmonton and Moose Jaw
have to wait until Friday to kick off their Eastern Conference final
series...the Oil Kings are a perfect 8-0 in the playoffs...so Rexall Place
continues to see some good times, despite the Oilers failing to make the
postseason yet again...in the Western Conference, both 2nd round series are
going to Game 7 tomorrow night...Portland and Kamloops as well as Tri-City and
Spokane fight it out for the right to advance...

And speaking of coming back from
down 0-3...in the QMJHL, the Halifax Mooseheads were down 0-3 against the Quebec
Remparts, and won the next 3 games to force Game 7, which is presently tied 3-3
in the 3rd period...all but one series in the 2nd round (Saint John swept
Baie-Comeau) have gone the distance...the reason all eyes are on Halifax is
because they have the player touted to be the next Crosby, Nathan
MacKinnon...and he's played a huge role in the comeback...

--------------------

7:26 PM: Goals fast and furious in this one...so we haveZach Parise,
from Travis Zajac and Ilya Kovalchuk, just 33 seconds in; Stephen Gionta with
his 1st career NHL Playoff goal at 3:27, from Marek Zidlicky and Steve Bernier;
then at 5:16, a penalty for interference taken by Kris Versteeg - ensuing power
play, Patrik Elias scored at 6:16, from Parise and David Clarkson...that was it
for Jose Theodore, Scott Clemmensen is now in goal for Florida...and it's 3-0,
Devils...

Third straight game to start
3-0...so far neither team can seem to get to 4-0...I have a feeling that's about
to change...but, then again, neither team seems to be able to come all the way
back, either...

Nashville-Detroit is a 7:30
start...Phoenix-Chicago, 9:00...

--------------------

7:19 PM: The New Jersey Devils said they were happy to be home...and it
shows...they're already up 2-0 and looking for more...

Make that 3-0...

--------------------

3:34 PM: Andrew Shaw gets 3 games for elbowing Mike Smith to the
head...Smith is still a game time decision...huge blow for Phoenix if he can't
go, especially at the Madhouse...

--------------------

2:04 PM: Washington's Nick Backstrom is suspended for Game 4,
pending a hearing/review by the NHL's department of player safety - Backstrom
was involved in an altercation with Boston's Rich Peverley at the end of last
night's Game 3 - he cross checked Peverley to the head and was assessed a match
penalty...

--------------------

12:58 PM: No Hal Gill again for Nashville going into Game 4
against Detroit...Gill was already banged up coming into this series - he has
already missed the first 3 games...

--------------------

12:34 PM: $10,000 fine for Dan Bylsma and a one game suspension
for Craig Adams...Adams for instigating a fight towards the end of Game 3 and
Bylsma for allowing him to be out there...

--------------------

12:46 AM: They had
added a couple of seconds, but no dice...the Sharks end up singing the Blues...

12:42 AM: Teams have traded goals in the 3rd...Alex Steen 59
seconds in, on that power play I mentioned, made it 4-1 St. Louis...McDonald
with another assist - 3 points on the night for McDonald and Colaiacovo...then,
at 16:58, Colin White made it 4-2, with helpers from Ryane Clowe and Joe
Thornton...

Thornton may have killed any momentum the Sharks may
have had by taking a late penalty, but wait...the Sharks have just scored with
the goalie pulled...just 16.8 seconds left...

All of a sudden, It's 4-3...time
out - Sharks...

April 16, 2012

11:52 PM: 40 minutes done in Game 3, and St. Louis has added to
their lead - San Jose's Douglas Murray has been throwing his weight around, and
got called for interference 9:28 into the 2nd - Jason Arnott then led by example
and scored on the power play at 10:06, thanks in part to Andy McDonald and Alex
Steen...it's 3-1, Blues...

Thought we might actually get through a period without
a questionable hit - no such luck - Daniel Winnik went full tilt into Colaiacovo,
and will serve the final 1:39 of a boarding penalty when the 3rd gets
underway...

--------------------

11:13 PM: St. Louis regains the lead thanks to Andy McDonald's
2nd of the playoffs at 1:01 of the 2nd period, set up by Berglund and Colaiacovo...

2-1 Blues...

--------------------

10:49 PM: Tied 1-1 at the 1st
intermission...Sharks scored on
a power play with Roman Polak in the sin bin for a cross check on Joe
Thornton...Brent Burns' 1st of the playoffs from Thornton and Logan Couture, at
16:45...

--------------------

10:37 PM: Blues strike first on a power play of their own...Patrik
Berglund with his 3rd of the playoffs at 14:31, Carlo Colaiacovo and Jason
Arnott assisted...

1-0 St. Louis...

--------------------

10:23 PM: First game of this series to end in regulation
time...4-3, the final score, Bruins lead the series 2-1...next game not until
Thursday...a lot of series getting the extra day between Games 3 and 4...

Meanwhile down in northern
California, the Sharks are on a power play...

This game started with Douglas
Murray lowering the boom on T.J. Oshie...just five seconds into it...both were
none the worse for wear...look out!!

--------------------

10:20 PM: With Nick Backstrom already in the box, Milan
Lucic got into it with Karl Alzner and then Matt Hendricks...Lucic got 4 minutes
(2 separate roughing minors), Hendricks 2...ensuing power play, Zdeno Chara
scored his 1st of the playoffs, at 18:07, on a shot that deflected past Holtby
off Roman Hamrlik's stick...Patrice Bergeron and Dennis Seidenberg scored points
on the play...

4-3, Boston...

46 seconds left...time
out, Washington...Holtby is on the bench for the extra attacker...

--------------------

10:08 PM: Tied 3-3 as Brooks Laich scores his 1st of the playoffs, at exactly
14 minutes into the 3rd, Nick Backstrom and Mike Green assisted...do we have
overtime for the 3rd straight game in this series?!?

Blues-Sharks, about to get
underway...

--------------------

10:02 PM: 1-0 is a final score from Ottawa...the NY Rangers
now lead the series 2-1...Lundqvist made 39 saves for the shutout...

Going back in time to that 1-0
Colorado win over San Jose in 2010...Dan Boyle scored an own goal in OT to help
Anderson and the Avs win that game...fast forward to 2012, and Rangers win 1-0
against Anderson and the Ottawa Senators...Brian Boyle gets the GWG...how ironic
is that?!!? Must be some sort of space time continuum thing...

Still 3-2 Boston at the Verizon
Center...8:30 left there...

--------------------

9:45 PM: 3-2, Boston...Brian
Rolston with his 1st of the playoffs at 1:02 of the 3rd period, thanks in part
to two former Sens...Chris Kelly and Zdeno Chara...

9:29 PM: After a huge series of saves at one end, Brian
Boyle goes the other way and gets his 3rd of the playoffs, Dan Girardi and Ryan
Callahan assisted...at 7:35...still plenty of time for Ottawa, but King Henrik
is standing on his head...

1-0 Rangers...

--------------------

9:26 PM: 2nd intermission in Washington...exactly 5 minutes into the
3rd, still scoreless in Ottawa...

Starting to hear the car horns now...lots of Sens flags on
cars...haven't seen so many since their run in 2007...

--------------------

9:03 PM: End of the 2nd in Ottawa...shots
are 25-16 in favor of the Senators...this is looking eerily similar to 2010 -
that Game 3 between San Jose and Colorado, isn't it?! Craig Anderson won
that game 1-0 in OT...or should I say, the Sharks helped it along...

Bruins have tied the score 2-2...Daniel Paille at 9:38
of the 2nd from Greg Zanon and Greg Campbell...somehow that game still has 8
minutes left in the 2nd...I guess when you don't score any goals the time goes
faster...

As the fire trucks rush down my
street, again...

--------------------

8:51 PM: It's 2-1 Washington...Rich
Peverley squared the affair at 1-1, converted a Zdeno Chara and Andrew Ference
setup, 35 seconds into the 2nd...but Alex Ovechkin skated back down the ice and
scored to make it 2-1...just 13 seconds later at 48 seconds...Brooks Laich and
Roman Hamrlik drew assists...

Still no score to report in
Ottawa...they reviewed a play in the Ottawa net...no goal...

If you're watching the game and
somebody asks you what's the score...tell 'em we're in OT...

--------------------

8:49 PM: Just got a text message from an old friend of
mine...said "Go Toronto...LMAO"...um...right...must be watching the Jays...;)

--------------------

8:16 PM: No score to report yet from Ottawa, at the 1st
intermission...Washington is up 1-0 on Boston thanks to Alex Semin's 1st power
play goal of the playoffs, 16 minutes into the 1st, Alex Ovechkin and Brooks
Laich with helpers...Zdeno Chara was in the box for roughing...

7:49 PM: Does Bob Cole really need to remind us that Chris
Phillips wears #4, or is he reminding himself!?!?

--------------------

7:48 PM: Marc Staal - 2 minutes for interference...

--------------------

7:47 PM: Penalty is killed off...

--------------------

7:43 PM: Jason Spezza...two
minutes for Cross checking...I imagine the officials will call this one a little
tighter than the first two games...

--------------------

7:33 PM: No Alfie...not too much of a
surprise...Bobby Butler will
replace him, and Matt Gilroy gets back in for the suspended Matt Carkner...for
the Rangers, Chris Kreider, playing in his first career NHL game, will replace
Carl Hagelin...

No change in either lineup for
Boston or Washington...while CBC's Bruce Rainey was describing both teams as
having "Titanic" goaltending, Ron Maclean came back with this "one could argue
the titanic goaltending is in Philadelphia, both teams (in that series) great
until they hit the ice"...ouch!!!!!

--------------------

5:49 PM: $2,500 fine to Zenon Konopka as well as a $10,000
fine to the Ottawa Senators "for his verbal abuse directed at a New York Rangers
player conducting a live television interview nearby during pre-game warm ups"...

Alfie is still being listed as a
Game Time decision...

All of a sudden, now, Daniel Sedin
has been cleared for practice, and will apparently join the Vancouver Canucks in
L.A....whether or not he plays Game 4 remains to be seen...is it really going to
matter?

Still waiting for a decision on
Andrew Shaw...apparently James Neal and Arron Asham both face hearings on
Tuesday...Mr. Shanahan is a busy man...

--------------------

5:04 PM: I have to chuckle at the little bullet at the top of
the latest issue of Macleans magazine: "Why won't Canada love the
Canucks?"...let's see...where would you like me to start?...

I'm sure the playoffs had not yet started when that issue went to
the printers, but as of last night, start with the fact the Canucks have lost 5
straight playoff games, putting them at risk of getting swept in the first
round, a year removed from going to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final...

Based on what we've seen so far,
even though Cory Schneider had no chance on the goal last night, neither
goaltender has been able to keep the puck out long enough to allow the offense
to click...and click it hasn't...Canucks can't beat Jonathan Quick...period...

And, unlike some of the other teams
in the playoffs...the Canucks, still, seem unwilling to go to war for their team
mates...they didn't press the issue when Duncan Keith went after Daniel
Sedin...and they didn't press the issue when Brown went after Henrik last
night...sorry, there's a difference between going after a guy and pounding him
into submission (Bertuzzi), and actually sending a message...hugging matches
don't work...get in there and fight...

I don't know...I realize only 3
teams in NHL history have ever come back from down 0-3 to win a series in 7
games...but you have to think with what both Vancouver and Pittsburgh have on
paper that at least one, if not both, will try to become the 4th...don't forget
too, the tables have turned a little bit on Vancouver...they were the ones up
3-0 last spring until Chicago rallied right to the point where they forced OT in
Game 7...

--------------------

11:47 AM: The Ottawa Sun is reporting Daniel Alfredsson's Game 3
status will be a game time decision...Boston-Washington is also a 7:30 start,
and St. Louis is in San Jose for Game 3 starting at 10:00...

1:18 AM: Dustin Brown scored his 4th off of a Justin Williams
rebound, Anze Kopitar drew a secondary assist...at 6:30 of the 3rd...Jonathan
Quick would make 16 more saves, for a final game total of 41...it was all the
Kings needed...they win Game 3 1-0, lead the series 3-0...the President's Trophy
winners, are on the verge of getting swept...

So two teams, Pittsburgh and
Vancouver, who many had pegged to be in the final, could both be done in four
straight...I don't think anybody saw that coming...unbelievable...

Meanwhile...in the OHL - the Ottawa
67s did it...they beat the Barrie Colts 3-2 to tie their series 3-3, it comes
back to Ottawa for Game 7 on Tuesday...they're not ready to knock down the old
Civic Centre just yet...

--------------------

12:29 AM: Still scoreless, at the 2nd
intermission...shots are now
25-11, still in Vancouver's favor...quite the parade to the penalty box, not to
mention a big hit on Henrik Sedin by Dustin Brown 2:53 into the period...Henrik
appears to be OK, as he has stayed in the game, but the nasty factor has ramped
up a notch...Alex Burrows and Anze Kopitar dropped the gloves, and then Kevin
Bieksa went after Brown...just when I was starting to feel that we'd almost made
it through two games without an incident...

Next goal wins, methinks...series
defining period, coming right up...

April 15, 2012

11:23 PM: New Jersey-Florida is tied 1-1, headed back to Newark...Devils
had a late flurry, but like Florida in Game 1, were unable to tie it...Tomas
Fleischmann scored into an empty net in the final split seconds...4-2 the
final...as the rats fly yet again...

No score yet to report from Los Angeles after 20
minutes...shots were 11-5 in favor of Vancouver...

--------------------

9:50 PM: Catching up on some of the news...for
tomorrow night's Game 3 in Kanata, we won't have Matt Carkner or Carl Hagelin...Carkner
got 1 game, Hagelin got 3...it's unknown yet if Alfie will play or not...

--------------------

9:33 PM: OK...back
for the 3rd period...and the tables appear to have turned in Game 2 between New
Jersey and Florida...it was the Panthers getting the 3-0 lead, but the Devils
have scored twice in 1:14 to make the score 3-2...and plenty of time left to tie
or even win it outright...

Just watched an interview with
Sidney Crosby, where he made it pretty clear that he doesn't like the Flyers,
period...well that's all fine and dandy, but your team is in an 0-3 hole against
them...time to suck it up...

Anyhow - back to Sunrise...

Penalty trouble
for New Jersey early in this one...just 11 seconds in, Andy Greene was called
for a trip on Marcel Goc, and just 12 seconds later, 0:23 of the 1st period,
Stephen Weiss, who has waited a long time to score his first NHL Playoff goal,
did so...a power play marker from Mikael Samuelsson and Kris Versteeg...and
Florida led 1-0 before most fans were even in their seats...it would stay that
way until 1:12 of the 2nd, when Weiss would do it again...David Clarkson and
Alex Ponikarovsky would both get penalties at 19:43 of the 1st, Clarkson for
charging Erik Gudbranson and Ponikarovsky for putting a high stick on him...all
of a sudden Weiss had 2 on the night and 2 playoff goals for his career, Goc and
Jason Garrison factors on the play...before the game was 40 minutes old, Goc
would get his 1st of the playoffs, thanks in part to Brian Campbell and Sean
Bergenheim...even strength at 14:39...the 3-0 lead would hold until the 2nd
intermission...

Now in the 3rd, Travis Zajac just 48
seconds in (Greene, Ponikarovsky assisted), and Ilya Kovalchuk at 2:02 (Adam
Henrique), and we have a hockey game to close out Game 3...

Canucks-Kings is a 10:30 start at
the Staples Center...

--------------------

6:20 PM: Talbot adds a 2nd shorthanded goal today for good
measure...the gong show comes to an end, and it's an 8-4 Flyers win, and a
commanding 3-0 series lead...

There's an extra day between games 3 and 4,
Penguins are apparently going back to Pittsburgh, but are they merely prolonging
the inevitable?

More to come on this one, I'm sure...

I'll have a wrap up of New Jersey-Florida later
on...going to see "The Three Stooges"...feel like I've been watching
the teaser trailer live on the ice all afternoon...more than three "stooges" on
that Pittsburgh team right now...

--------------------

5:58 PM: Crosby went with Hartnell, actually grabbed him by
the scruff of the neck...then let Craig Adams in...they're sounding the bells in
Philly...there's equipment and body parts all over the ice...well,
;)...equipment, anyhow...

4:42 left...

--------------------

5:58 PM: Tempers are flaring again...James
Neal took out Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux, both within the span of a
minute...

And Crosby continues to go on the
ice...not smart if you ask me...this could get ugly...

Fans are chanting "You can't beat
us!" and "Let's Go Flyers!"...

--------------------

5:33 PM: All the rage going into this series was if Philadelphia's
goaltending would be good enough...while it hasn't been great, so far it's been
Pittsburgh's goaltending that has really let their team down...

Marc-Andre Fleury
has been yanked in favor of Brent Johnson for the 3rd period...and he hasn't
fared much better...it's 7-4 Flyers, thanks to Claude Giroux' 4th of the
playoffs, just 27 seconds into the 3rd, Jagr with another assist...

I never ever expected this
series had the potential of ending in a sweep...but, this is why we play the
games, right?

--------------------

5:09 PM: Wayne Simmonds on another power play at 19:14, assist from
Braydon Coburn...it's 6-4, now at the 2nd intermission...Kunitz was off again,
this time for a slash...

Now up to 80 penalty minutes in the
game...

Still awaiting news on three hearing
expected today - Carl Hagelin, Matt Carkner and Andrew Shaw...probably will be
at least one more tomorrow (Asham)...

--------------------

5:01 PM: Jordan Staal's 2nd of the game at 15:40...for once an even
strength goal...it's 5-4...Neal and Kunitz with more points...

--------------------

4:58 PM: 2nd career NHL Playoff goal and 2nd of the game for
Matt Read, on another power play, at 14:18, Jagr and Schenn with helpers...5-3,
Flyers...Penguins were just 12 seconds away from killing off a Chris Kunitz
tripping penalty...

--------------------

4:56 PM: James Neal's 2nd of the game at 10:31 from Malkin and
Crosby has the Penguins within 1...it's 4-3...a power play goal as Nick Grossman
got called for kneeing Neal...

--------------------

4:42 PM: Things look to have settled down in
Philadelphia...somewhat...this game has definitely lived up to the old Rodney
Dangerfield joke...went to see a fight and a hockey game broke out...

--------------------

4:22 PM: 3rd straight 3-2 score between Nashville and Detroit in
Game 3 as the series shifted North to Michigan...now it's a 2-1 series lead for
Nashville...this one seemed pretty calm in the penalties department, compared to
the game on right now...

It was Shea Weber kicking things off, 2:48 into the 1st, on a
power play, with Andrei Kostitsyn and Alex Radulov assisting...after 20 minutes
it was a 1-0 Predators lead...they would lead 2-0 3:50 into the 2nd period as
Martin Erat set up Kevin Klein for his 1st of the playoffs...at 15:03, Pavel
Datysuk would cut the lead back to 1, and after 2 periods it was 2-1...Detroit
thought they had a goal late in the 2nd period, but replays showed the puck
crossed the line after the clock ran out...Sergei Kostitsyn would get in on the
act, late, at 16:30 of the 3rd, thanks in part to Mike Fisher and Kevin
Klein...Predators would lead 3-1...Detroit would get a late power play, and
would score at 19:06, Henrik Zetterberg would convert a Datsyuk and Nicklas
Kronwall setup to make it 3-2...that's as close as they would come...

Vancouver is expected to play Cory Schneider in Game
3...it would appear they've already pressed the panic button...Daniel Sedin
won't be back for this series, or at least we assume that much since he did not
make the trip to L.A....coach Alain Vigneault's words on the subject were not
encouraging...

--------------------

4:09 PM: Matt Read's first career playoff goal at 15:40, Briere
not so quietly has 3 points already...4-2 Flyers...there's still 4:20 left in
the 1st...they're calling it another shorthanded goal?

72 penalty minutes in this game
already...

--------------------

4:07 PM: James Neal makes it 3-2...1st of the playoffs and just
his 2nd career NHL playoff goal...Matt Niskanen with the lone assist...at 15:17
of the first...

--------------------

4:06 PM: Schenn gets a charging penalty, and Asham gets the
gate...four on four for now, but Philly will have 3 minutes of power play time,
barring any further hijinks...

--------------------

4:02 PM: Aaron Asham just took out Brayden Schenn in the corner
with a cross check and a punch to the head after Schenn threw a perfect hit on
Martin...he'll be getting a call from Sheriff Shanahan methinks...that's just
wrong...Schenn is still down, but getting up...slowly...

--------------------

3:57 PM: The penalties...Sullivan
and Voracek, 2 minutes each for roughing...Giroux and Crosby, 5 each for
fighting...Letang, 5 for fighting and the game...Timonen, 2 for slashing, 5 for
fighting and the game...Pens get a 5 on 4 power play out of it...at 12:02 of the
1st...both teams lose one of their top offensive threats for 5 minutes...and
both teams lose a top defenseman for the game...this could hurt Pittsburgh more
than Philadelphia...

I'd say this pot has boiled over
just a bit...

--------------------

3:53 PM: Alright...calling the first Barn
Burner Alert of the playoffs...Crosby and Giroux
just threw down, started another all out brawl...Timonen and Letang, and Read
and Martin...they're all yelling at each other in the penalty box...Letang and
Timonen are out of the game...maybe...it's a good thing the boxes are separated
by glass...

--------------------

3:49 PM: It is electric at the Wells Fargo Center...Briere scores
again...3-1 Flyers...where was the D on that play?! Despite being OK
positionally, Michalek has to get back faster on that play...no way Briere
should be able to get in on the left side like that...twice...

Both coaches have already used their time outs...

--------------------

3:41 PM: 45th career playoff goal for Danny Briere, 3rd of these
playoffs at 8:19...Hartnell-Down and Jagr getting points on the play...2-1
Philly...and they stay on the power play...

3:37 PM: Even up calls on both sides...and
somehow it's 4 on 3...somehow Carle and Cooke didn't even get penalties out of
the whole mess, they were the first to start chucking knuckles...

--------------------

3:34 PM: Another shorthanded goal for Max Talbot...and it's on all over
the ice...Matt Carle and Matt Cooke, Claude Giroux and Matt Niskanen...1-1 the
score, and penalties coming up for sure...Fleury should get that trapper glove
checked...couldn't cover up the puck, it squeaked by him into the net...Giroux
and Carle draw helpers on the goal, 6:44 into the 1st...

Special teams are working well for
at least one team...

--------------------

3:31 PM: Game 3 -
Pittsburgh-Philadelphia...guess
we can't really read too much into the fact that Pittsburgh is already up 1-0,
given they were up early in the first two games.....Jordan Staal with his 1st
goal of the playoffs, 3:52 into the 1st period, assists from Chris Kunitz and
Zbynek Michalek...

--------------------

1:08 AM: Brian Bickell started the scoring...and ended it...(how
many times have I said that already this postseason?!)...10:36 into the 1st
overtime, Viktor Stalberg gets a helper...Hawks win 4-3, and the series is tied
1-1 heading back to the Madhouse on Madison...

Did Bickell really just say it's
nice to get the two points?!!?! Well, hopefully his performance tonight is
a good omen for his former junior team, the Ottawa 67s, just like it seems the
former Senators' big goals was a good omen for tonight...

I'll tell you what...if the Rangers
know what's good for them, they'll book their hotel for Games 3 and 4 in
Ogdensburg, New York instead of anywhere in the vicinity of Ottawa...it'd
probably be just as long a drive to the rink...Watertown, anyone?!

Carl Hagelin has already been told
he'll have a hearing Sunday afternoon for the hit on Alfie...

Plenty more action coming this
afternoon...on this 100th anniversary of the Titanic tragedy...think the movie's
already shown about six times on TV already...a special 3D version is in
theatres...

--------------------

1:04 AM: A game of inches...Antoine
Vermette was that close to his 1st career playoff hat trick...Crawford made an
unbelievable toe save while down in the crease, but not out...we keep playing...

--------------------

12:51 AM: They do indeed give the tying
goal to Sharp...

--------------------

12:41 AM: Patrick Sharp may have got a piece of it, but no matter
what, we're going to OT...

Martin Hanzal,
the Game 1 OT hero,and Lauri Korpikoski have both left
this game with injuries...

So I've got Dave Bolland for Chicago, Ray Whitney for
Phoenix...

uLAr has Patrick Sharp, and the guy
who left Game 1 for what appears now to have been for precautionary measures -
Radim Vrbata, for Phoenix...

--------------------

12:37 AM: This is becoming a habit...Brent Seabrook scored
with 14.2 seconds left in Game 1 to tie the game and send it to OT...he's done
it again...this time with just 5.5 left on the clock, and he ties the game
3-3...again we head to OT in Phoenix...

Unbelievable...all
but one game today needed OT to decide...and how long will it take tonight?!
Even the Women's World Hockey Championship game evidently went to OT...

April 14, 2012

11:45 PM: Getting close to the 2nd intermission in Phoenix...Corey
Crawford just made what could be a game saving save for Chicago...

--------------------

11:26 PM: Coyotes have scored one on the major penalty...and still have
plenty of time...3-2...Vermette again, from Keith Yandle and Derek Morris...at
8:41...

--------------------

11:22 PM: 5 minute major for charging and a game misconduct for
Shaw...looks like Smith is OK and will stay in the game, but he was very slow
to get up...12:49 left in the 2nd...

The 2-1 goal, scored by Antoine
Vermette, on a power play, at 13:44 of the 1st...and it was still 2-1 Phoenix at
the 20 minute intermission...Brandon Bollig has his first career NHL playoff
goal (in fact, I think that's his first NHL goal, period), for Chicago, at 6:56,
assists by Nick Leddy and Duncan Keith, tied the game 2-2...

The hit on goalie Smith took place
at 7:11...

--------------------

11:19 PM: It's tied 2-2 in the second between Chicago and
Phoenix...more on the goals in a second...

Mike Smith is
down and hurt behind the Phoenix net...shoulder right to the chin by Andrew
Shaw...

--------------------

10:28 PM: Raffi Torres ties the game on a nice finish in the slot
from a behind the net feed from Shane Doan...1-1 at 8:52 of the 1st...

--------------------

10:25 PM: Andy McDonald from T.J. Oshie and Alex Pietrangelo...the
3-0 St. Louis goal...that series looks like it's starting to boil over...look
out when this one gets to the Shark Tank...

--------------------

10:23 PM: It's an
all out brawl in St. Louis...but the Blues win Game 2, 3-0...not clear on who
scored the 3-0 goal, but it came late at 19:35 of the 3rd...

Brian Bickell has a power play goal
to give Chicago an early 1-0 lead...aside from the player who scored the goal,
so far a carbon copy of Game 1 in Phoenix for Game 2...

--------------------

10:18 PM: 1:17 into the 1st OT, and while the box score is presently saying
Smith, it was actually Chris Neil's goal...well, they both have the number 5 on
their sweater...Smith is #15, Neil is #25...

Ottawa wins 3-2, ties the series 1-1...crucial win for the
Sens...now they'll just have to wait for good news about Alfie...

The Rangers may have lost a key
member of their defense...Ryan McDonagh had to be helped off the ice after the
goal was scored, as he somehow ended up in the middle of what better resembled a
rugby scrum...

--------------------

10:00 PM: Goal picks...I've
got Zack Smith for Ottawa, Ryan Callahan for NY...and I'm guessing, like me this
afternoon, uLAr is not home, because he is saying Alfredsson for Ottawa or
Marian Gaborik for the Rangers...

Second straight Game 2 to go to OT...

I was out this afternoon when Boston-Washington went to
OT...but uLAr had picked Tyler Seguin for Boston or Nicklas Backstrom for
Washington...and Backstrom indeed got the goal in 2OT...

--------------------

9:55 PM: OT at MSG...as
Ottawa breathes a huge sigh of relief, and gasps for air at the same
time...heard somebody today saying they weren't even going to watch the game,
anticipating a repeat of Game 1...

--------------------

9:50 PM: Tied 2-2 with 2 minutes left in the 3rd period...St.
Louis is up 2-0 in the 3rd...

The man who will most likely be public enemy #1 in
Ottawa when the scene shifts here for Games 3 and 4, Brian Boyle, put the
Rangers up 2-1 just 2:41 into the 3rd...but Nick Foligno has tied it at 15:23...Zenon
Konopka has an assist on the goal...and it looks like we might have OT...Daniel
Alfredsson has not returned and is not expected to...

In St. Louis, they've lost Jaroslav
Halak to a "lower body injury", so former Senators goalie Brian Elliott is the guy in goal, and
continuing work on a shutout...David Backes converted a T.J. Oshie feed 13:49
into the 2nd period...there's still about 15 minutes left in the 3rd...

--------------------

8:59 PM: Erik Karlsson has taken a lot of abuse in this
series so far, but he has drawn the Sens even with the Rangers, on yet another
major penalty, at 13:50 of the 2nd...Filip Kuba assisted...this game has been
nasty...Daniel Alfredsson has left this game after taking an elbow to the
head from Carl Hagelin similar to the one that caused him to miss some time
earlier in the season...ironically enough, it was against the Rangers he took
that hit...he did leave the ice on his own steam...Sens capitalized on the major
penalty...

2nd intermission from MSG...

--------------------

8:30 PM: 12 minutes left in the 2nd period,
and it's a 1-0 Rangers lead...Anton
Stralman's power play goal 10:11 into the 1st is standing up as the only goal so
far...

Vladimir Sobotka's first of the
playoffs has St. Louis up 1-0 on San Jose after 20 minutes...I'm told
Marc-Edouard Vlasic actually helped it along to put his team into a real pickle...

--------------------

7:33 PM: Boston-Washington Game 2 was
another overtime classic...it
was scoreless until the game was almost 38 minutes old, at 17:57 of the 2nd,
Troy Brouwer scored Washington's first goal and first lead of the series, Alex
Ovechkin and Karl Alzner with their first points of the tournament...12:13 into
the 3rd, Brian Rolston and Chris Kelly set up Benoit Pouliot's first career NHL
Playoff goal, and it was tied 1-1...we would need overtime...nothing doing in
the 1st overtime period, but 2:56 into the 2nd overtime, Marcus Johansson fed
Nicklas Backstrom for the OT winner, and the series tying win...series tied 1-1,
heading back to Washington...

Early into Ottawa-NY Rangers Game
2...the Senators have just killed off a five minute major...Matt Carkner got 2,
5, 10 and the game for instigating a fight with Brian Boyle just 2:15
in...Brandon Dubinsky got 2, 10, the game, and probably claimed a Gatorade
cooler on his way off the ice...

Still scoreless at MSG, with 11:50
left in the 1st period...now they can hopefully settle down and play...

And more fisticuffs...now Boyle and
Chris Neil...look out...

--------------------

12:55 AM: 4-2 the final score, again...2-0 series lead for
the Kings...

Will the tables turn? Same
question can be asked of Pittsburgh...

Playoffs Saturday -
Boston-Washington Game 2 at 3:00 PM, New York-Ottawa at 7, St. Louis-San Jose at
7:30 and Phoenix-Chicago at 10:00...

Ottawa 67s staved off elimination
with a close 2-1 win over the Barrie Colts...they have to go back to Barrie for
Game 6, though, still down 3-2...that game is Sunday night...if they can force
Game 7, Tuesday night back here in Ottawa...

In the OHL West, London took a 3-2
lead in their series against Saginaw with a 2-1 OT win....Plymouth-Kitchener is
deadlocked 2-2...

--------------------

12:49 AM: They've still allowed Brown to have the hat trick goal,
assisted by Jarret Stoll and Justin Williams...still think they'll change it
when they get a chance to review all the replays...

Trevor Lewis scored his 1st of the playoffs at 14:51,
and Sam Pahlsson has replied at 16:22...it's another 4-2 Los Angeles lead...

--------------------

12:25 AM: 3-1, the Kings lead...they're
calling it a Dustin Brown hat trick, but replays clearly show it's Jarret
Stoll's goal...power play goal, at 8:30 of the 3rd period...special teams, the
tale of the day...

So far this is playing out eerily
similar to that Detroit-Vancouver series from 10 years ago, in 2002...the one
where the Canucks, as the 8th seed, stole two games from the President's Trophy
winners Detroit on the road and were leading Game 3 at home...then Nick Lidstrom
scored that floater from centre ice...Wings never looked back after that, they
came back to win Game 3 and the series in 6 games...Canucks need a divine
intervention like that from the Hockey Gods...

Still enough time left in Game 2,
though...

Have I really been doing the Puckin'
Around thing for 10 years?!?! The playoff preview from 2002 was the fourth
ever column...

10:56 PM: 1-0 Los Angeles after 20 minutes
in Vancouver...the goal came in
the dying seconds of the 1st period, with 8.6 seconds left...Dustin Brown,
shorthanded, assisted by Anze Kopitar...Roberto Luongo was down, stacked pads,
and everybody, including Jim Hughson, thought Chris Tanev had made the save in
the crease...the puck found the back of the net under the padding, that's how
hard Brown shot it in...practically his 2nd empty net goal of the series...

Canucks better wake up...

--------------------

10:17 PM: Claude Giroux caps off a 6 point night, with an empty net
hat trick...Flyers win 8-5...biggest offensive explosion of the playoffs so
far...everyone thought this would go 7 games...it could be done in 4...ouch!!!
The Consol Energy Center hex continues...the Penguins have a brutal record
against the Flyers in their new home, but have been great at the Wells Fargo
Center...Game 3, Sunday at 3:00 PM...

--------------------

10:12 PM: 1st career playoff series for Sean Couturier, 1st career
playoff hat trick...7-5 Flyers, now with 94 seconds left...

The Penguins are in big trouble...I can hear Scott
Ferrall freaking out all the way from New York...

Detroit wins 3-2, that series is now
tied 1-1...two straight 3-2 scores...Nashville has never won a playoff game at
the Joe Louis Arena...that'll have to change if they want to win this series...

--------------------

10:02 PM: Shea Weber has drawn the ire of Red Wings fans everywhere
as he makes it 3-2...at 15:16 of the 3rd, Paul Gaustad and Nick Spaling draw
helpers...

This is my pet peeve in Round
1...two close games, late in the 3rd...which means I have to channel surf...at
least this doesn't happen (as much) in the 2nd round...last night I was juggling
two overtime games...

One feature I've really gotten used
to this time of year...picture in picture...but that only works for 2 games at a
time...if the PVR comes on to record something, forget it...

--------------------

9:57 PM: Game 1 between New Jersey and Florida from Sunrise has
been a fairly close affair...no surprise...all of the games so far have been
close, last night's Rangers-Senators game excluded...

The Devils won by a score of 3-2...

It was all New Jersey in the 1st
period...6:31 in, Patrik Elias from Dainius Zubrus and Bryce Salvador...at
10:18, Florida's Shawn Matthias high sticked Andy Greene and got a four minute
double minor penalty, and just as the power play was finishing, at 14:11, Zubrus
made him pay...seconds later, at 14:56, Ryan Carter scored an unassisted marker,
and all of a sudden it was 3-0, Devils...it stayed that way until 7:44 of the
2nd period when Sean Bergenheim, who was instrumental in Tampa Bay's run last
spring, got his first to get Florida on the board...Stephen Gionta, Brian's
brother (oddly enough also starts his career with New Jersey), took a tripping
penalty at 15:23, and at 15:42 Kris Versteeg made it 3-2 with a power play
goal...Martin Brodeur would shut the door after that...Florida made a late
charge to try and tie it, but it wasn't going to happen...Devils lead the series
1-0...Brodeur's 100th career playoff win...the man just keeps rolling, doesn't
he?

And we have a real barn burner in
Pittsburgh...again, while Detroit is up 3-1 on Nashville, also in the 3rd...

In Nashville, Game 2 of their series
against Detroit...Ian White carried the Red Wings' momentum into the 1st period,
at 8:25 from Tomas Holmstrom and Drew Miller...then at 15:33 Cory Emmerton
scored an unassisted goal...after 20 minutes, the Wings had a 2-0 lead...9:01
into the 2nd period, Andrei Kostitsyn scored his 1st of the playoffs, Alex
Radulov and Nashville's first ever draft pick, David Legwand, assisted...seconds
later, Detroit restored their 2 goal lead as the mule, Johan Franzen at 9:57,
helped along by Brad Stuart and Pavel Datsyuk...

Still 3-1 with about 7 minutes left
in the 3rd...

Heading back over to
Pittsburgh...and it's been back and forth...and not unlike Game 1, Pittsburgh
got the early lead...Sidney Crosby scored just 15 seconds into the 1st period,
Chris Kunitz converted on a Nicklas Grossman hooking penalty at 9:27, Max Talbot
scored a shorthanded goal at 12:44, and before the first intermission, 19:42,
Paul Martin made it 3-1...Claude Giroux scored a power play and a shorthanded
goal, Kunitz got his 2nd power play goal of the night, and Sean Couturier got
his 1st career playoff goal, a buzzer beater with 3 seconds left, and after 40
minutes, it was tied 4-4...

Now in the 3rd, Couturier has
another one, Tyler Kennedy has his 2nd of the playoffs, and Jaromir Jagr has
just scored to make it 6-5, Philly...

8:54 to go in the 3rd...Penguins
better be careful here...do they really want to go down 2-0 heading back down
the Pennsylvania Turnpike?!

Vancouver-L.A. gets underway in
about 10 minutes or so...

And now you're up to date...and I
can take a breath...not to mention a sip...;)

--------------------

1:02 AM: And it's Martin Hanzal with the OT magic for
Phoenix...Adrian Aucoin and Rusty Klesla assisted, 9:29 into the first
overtime...Desert Dogs win Game 1...as already half of the opening games have
gone to OT...

1 more series left to start -
tomorrow night, Florida hosts New Jersey...and we have Game 2 from Pittsburgh,
Vancouver and Nashville to cap off Friday the 13th...

12:37 AM: It looked like
Phoenix was going to hold on for the 2-1 win, but Chicago's Brent Seabrook tied
it 2-2 with just 15 seconds left, at 19:45, Toews and Patrick Kane assisted, and
we are going to OT for the 3rd time tonight...

April 12, 2012

11:51 PM: See this is why the officiating in this league has gone to
hell in a handbasket...Kerry Fraser is retired...quiet astutely he pointed out
that the Taylor Pyatt goal shouldn't have been allowed because just before the
play the Coyotes had too many men on the ice...

What is that, three missed calls
already in these playoffs!?!? Two of them led to goals...

Of course, Toronto fans are still to
this day reeling over the missed High Stick...ask any Leaf fan about the Gretzky
High Stick and they know exactly what you mean...(or just Google "1993
Conference Finals")...well you know, you win some...you lose some...

--------------------

11:34 PM: ...and yet another former Senator finds the back of the net...Antoine
Vermette blasts it by Corey Crawford...2-1 for the Desert Dogs...Raffi Torres
with a nice setup there...

--------------------

11:28 PM: Tied 1-1 in Phoenix...Taylor
Pyatt...welcome back...1st of the playoffs...about 3 1/2 left in the 2nd
period...

--------------------

11:21 PM: I said it earlier, but it bears repeating...I'll bet the
Ottawa Senators wish they still had Martin Havlat in their lineup...or for that
matter...Chris Kelly...

3:34 in the 2nd OT, Havlat finds the twine, assists from Ryane
Clowe and Logan Couture, and the 7th seeded Sharks take a bite out of the 2nd
seeded Blues in Game 1...

--------------------

11:06 PM: Double OT about to get going in
St. Louis...still 1-0 Chicago,
now in the 2nd period...which game will end first!??

--------------------

10:32 PM: Chris Kelly the hero of Game 1 in
Boston...just 1:18 into the 1st
overtime, Benoit Pouliot and Brian Rolston assisted...and they literally brought
the house down...a stantion came loose and one of the large pieces of plexiglas
fell right down on David Krejci's head...he's had a rough night!!...I mean I
know there's all this talk about concussions, but this is ridiculous...

Bruins now on a 3 game playoff
winning streak dating back to Game 6 of the 2011 Stanley Cup Final...

Holtby was named 2nd star, Thomas
3rd...

--------------------

10:17 PM: Goal picks...in
St. Louis, I'll go with Kevin Shattenkirk for the Blues, Brent Burns for the
Sharks...

In Boston...maybe I should pick one
of the goalies to score on himself...

Seriously though, will go with Nick
Backstrom for Washington, Rich Peverley for Boston...

uLAr has Jason Arnott for St. Louis,
Patrick Marleau for San Jose; Milan Lucic for Boston, Alex Ovechkin for
Washington...

Captain Toews already has Chicago up
1-0...

--------------------

10:09 PM: Still scoreless in Boston after
regulation...we head to OT...

Tied 2-2 in St. Louis...Berglund
got another one, and Andrew Desjardins tied it late...

We head to OT in 2 rinks...

Barrie takes a 3-1 series lead over
Ottawa after winning 3-2...

And final score from MSG - Rangers
4, Senators 2...they won the 3rd period, but lost Game 1...

--------------------

9:34 PM: Tied 1-1 in St. Louis, Patrik Berglund's 1st of the playoffs...

I get a sense the Phoenix-Chicago game might be over
before the Washington-Boston game is...it's still scoreless, in the 3rd...

--------------------

9:26 PM: Daniel Alfredsson foils the Lundqvist shutout bid...it's
4-1...Sens were the 3rd highest scoring 3rd period team in the NHL in the regular
season...don't go away...

--------------------

9:21 PM: 67s-Colts...tied 2-2 in the 3rd...meanwhile,
the Niagara Icedogs completed a sweep of the Brampton Batallion tonight, with a
3-1 win...that just went final...they will get the winner of the Barrie-Ottawa
series in the OHL Eastern Conference final...

--------------------

9:12 PM: So we have four goaltenders working on shutouts...

First of all...not going well for Ottawa...Callahan,
Gaborik, Boyle and now in the 3rd, Richards...4-0 Rags...Lundqvist perfect so
far...

Still scoreless after 40 minutes at
the TD Garden in Boston...Holtby and Thomas are in a real goalie duel...and
tempers are starting to flare on the ice...

The Senators right about now
probably wish they still had Martin Havlat...he has the lone goal for San Jose,
and Antti Niemi so far is perfect...Sharks up 1-0, that is after 40 minutes...

10 PM start for Phoenix-Chicago...

I'll have an update on the 67s game
too...in just a few minutes...

--------------------

8:27 PM: Nothing doing after 20 minutes in
Boston or St. Louis...the
Bruins, however, will carry 2:27 of a 4 minute double minor power play into the
2nd period...Washington's Jay Beagle somehow found it appropriate to cross check
David Krejci in the mouth...

Still 1-0 Rangers, in the 2nd
period...

And another Ottawa team, the 67s,
are up 1-0 over Barrie after one period in Game 4 of their OHL second round
series...been a tight series so far...after taking Game 1 by a 5-2 score, they
lost a heartbreaker in Game 2 in double overtime, and lost Game 3 on the road by
a score of 5-2...if the 67s can hang on for the win, series will be deadlocked
2-2 heading back to Ottawa for tomorrow night's Game 5 (I mean, teams in the NHL
complain about scheduling, imagine if this game goes to OT, they have to be in
Ottawa for tomorrow night...that's about a 5-6 hour drive from
Barrie...depending on what highway the team bus takes...)

--------------------

7:50 PM: 1st period is in the books at
Madison Square Garden...and it's
the NY Rangers leading Ottawa 1-0...Ryan Callahan's first of the playoffs...

If you're looking for the
Boston-Washington game - CBC has relegated it to CHEX, their Peterborough feed,
or they're streaming it online at cbcsports.ca...nothing to report there yet, or
in the STL-SJ game...odd, that one can be found on TSN which is simulcasting the
CNBC feed...

We really gotta get NBC Sports
Network up here in Canada...don't you think?!!?

BTW...Byron Bitz got 2 games...so he
gets 2, 5, 10 and a game misconduct, and gets a 2 game suspension...Weber tries
to make Zetterberg's face a permanent part of the glass, at the end of
the game, and he gets a $2500 fine and a slap on the wrist!?

--------------------

5:30 PM: This shouldn't come as any
surprise to anyone...The Calgary
Flames organization announced today that Brent "Sutter and the organization have
reached a mutual agreement to conclude coaching duties." Assistant coach
Dave Lowry will not be back next season, either...just the first in what should
be a long line of changes this offseason and beyond for the Flames...

Tonight on "NHL Hour", Gary Bettman
is expected to speak with Florida Panthers head coach Kevin Dineen, as well as
"Meet The Press" moderator David Gregory...catch it (in Canada) on Sirius CH 157
at 6PM, after HNIC Radio or after HNIC repeat at 10PM...or on Sirius XM CH
207...still waiting for Sirius XM Canada to align the channels so that we can
actually get the hockey games...not sure what they're waiting for, they were
given the green light to merge last June...getting a "free preview" for a week
every couple of months just doesn't do it for me...

--------------------

3:27 PM: Jonathan Toews was expected to be a game time decision -
it's been confirmed he will indeed play Game 1 between Chicago and
Phoenix...here's hoping he actually gets to complete the game...

Not too sure what sort of a message
that sends the rest of the league...if this happened in the regular season,
based on regular trends, Weber would have got at least a game...but keep in
mind, the players don't get paid in the playoffs unless they win a series...

Evidently, as well, the NHL is
not impressed over the missed offside call last night that led to Daniel
Briere's first goal...my guess is that linesman will not be assigned any playoff
games in the second round or finals...

--------------------

11:43 AM: So much for Darren Helm's
return...after colliding with
Alex Radulov in Game 1, he underwent emergency surgery to repair tendons in his
right forearm, and is unfortunately out for the playoffs...I have a hard enough
time with arthritis in my hands...ouch!!!

Waiting to hear if any supplementary
discipline will be doled out to Shea Weber or Byron Bitz...

--------------------

1:24 AM: Speaking of Dustin Penner...how
about a game winning goal at 16:46 of the 3rd period?...believe it...empty
netter for Dustin Brown at 19:42...both goals assisted on by Jeff Carter and
Mike Richards...

Kings win Game 1...4-2...and I know
the fans in Vancouver will hang the loss on Luongo - but it wasn't his
fault...he still made 35 saves despite the loss...blame the Canucks'
undisciplined play for the most part...and, I don't know if it's just me, but
the Kings can skate...the back and forth speed of that game was
unbelievable...

And there you have it...first night
is in the books...many more nights to come...as always, this thing will run into
June...

--------------------

12:28 AM: And we're tied again...Alex
Edler with a late period goal, 2-2...just 8 seconds left in the period on that
one, 19:52 the time of the goal...Ryan Kesler has a 2 point night, 2nd assist of
the night...Max Lapierre drew an assist on the play as well...

This one could go all night...L.A.
more than doubling up Vancouver in the shots department...29-14 after two
periods...

--------------------

12:25 AM: The parade to the penalty box
continues...they're calling this
one tight as well...

Bad penalty for Vancouver's Byron
Bitz, got ejected for a boarding play on Kyle Clifford...ensuing five minute
major power play, the former Vancouver Canuck, Willie Mitchell, got a well
placed shot past Roberto Luongo...at 16:33 of the 2nd, it's a 2-1 Los Angeles
lead...

Last minute of play before we hit 40
minutes...

April 11, 2012

11:15 PM: Kings get a 5 on 3, and Mike
Richards ties it 1-1 at 13:31...seeing
a lot of unsportsmanlike penalties so far...

--------------------

10:54 PM:For those of you who have been following with disgust the
whole Trayvonne Martin story out of Florida, authorities there have finally
arrested and charged George Zimmerman with second degree murder...if you're not
familiar with the story, George, a former neighborhood watch member, claimed
"self defense" after stalking Trayvonne all the way to a local convenience store
and back, just because he "looked suspicious"...evidently upon further review,
nobody's buying it...rightfully so...you tell me how wearing a hoody (which I
wear all the time) and going to buy candy looks suspicious...if you ask me,
should be 1st degree murder, but at least the man is behind bars...

Now back to Vancouver, where some fan has a sign that reads
"Wanted, Dead or Alive, and has the L.A. Kings' logo...I wonder if whomever made
that poster knows Bon Jovi is from New Jersey?

It's the Canucks with the early 1-0
lead...Alex Burrows at 4:17 assisted from Henrik Sedin and Ryan Kesler...

--------------------

10:45 PM: "♪
Oh say does that Stan-ley
Cup Ban-ner yet hang
♫..."

Vancouver-Los Angeles, Game 1...underway...you know, I can't
believe Dustin Penner is in the playoffs...again...what's even more surprising
to me is he has a ring...

--------------------

10:42 PM: Another 2 man advantage,
late, this time for Detroit...but they couldn't convert...bit of a broo-ha-ha at
the buzzer as Shea Weber took out Zetterberg in the corner...doesn't look like
anything will become of it...Smashville takes Game 1, 3-2 the final score...

--------------------

10:35 PM: Not so fast...Holmstrom
makes it 3-2...

--------------------

10:25 PM: Well how do you like that? Jakub Voracek, part of the Jeff Carter deal
last summer, gets his 1st career NHL Playoff goal, and it's a big one, just 2:23
into the 1st overtime...4-3, Flyers come all the way back and they'll get at
least a split out of Pittsburgh...wow!!

Looks like Nashville is going to cruise to a Game 1 victory,
they've given themselves a little insurance...they have given Gabriel Bourque
the 2-1 goal, and he has 2 on the night, 3-1 for the mustard colored beasts...

--------------------

10:19 PM: I was right...

Last year, San Jose-Los Angeles Game 1 went to OT, as
did Washington-NY Rangers...in 2010, Vancouver-Los Angeles went to OT, as did
Montreal-Washington...all of them were done quick...

3rd straight year we go to OT on the 1st night...and if
the trend continues, so will the Vancouver game...

--------------------

10:12 PM: OK...so
we do indeed have OT at the Consol for Game 1...I'm going to check into this,
but I believe this is the 3rd straight year we have OT on opening night...it's
at least 2nd straight year, this much I'm certain of...

Goal picks: I've got Scott Hartnell for Philadelphia or Evgeni
Malkin for Pittsburgh...uLAr has Briere with the hat trick or James Neal for the
Pitts...

Nashville is clinging on to the 2-1
lead in the 3rd...about 12 minutes to go there...

I wonder if Hartnell gets the goal
if he'll tell Crosby to "suck it"?!

--------------------

9:57 PM: I can't believe we might have overtime again on the
first night, but Philadelphia has tied the game 3-3...Brayden Schenn is having
himself a game...assisted on Briere's 1st goal, then assisted on another one
from Briere to make it 3-2...then tied it on just the Flyers' first power play
of the game...1st career NHL Playoff goal...we have about 4 minutes left in the
3rd period...Briere's 2nd goal at 9:17, went right through Crosby and Marc-Andre
Fleury...Schenn's goal at 12:23, assists from Hartnell and Jagr...the ageless
wonder continues to get points...

--------------------

9:39 PM: Nashville restores the 1 goal lead (wonder how many times I'll say that
in this series)...2-1, they've given it to Matt Halischuk from Gabriel Bourque,
but that could be reversed upon further review...12:29 of the second period the
time of the goal...they're now at the 40 minute intermission...

--------------------

9:27 PM: 3rd period just getting started in Pittsburgh with the
Pens still up 3-1...in the regular season, Philly was a lot like Ottawa - they
came from behind, a lot...

Detroit has tied Nashville 1-1...2008
Conn Smythe winner Henrik Zetterberg, on a power play, unassisted, 2:29 into the
2nd period...still about 7 minutes left in the 2nd there...

So far, the refs are calling a tight
game in Nashville, while in Pittsburgh, seems like they don't know what an
offside or an icing is...they're letting them play...can't wait to see how they
call it in Vancouver...you'll probably know by whichever bench you hear more
whining from...

--------------------

8:52 PM: Bryzgalov is still the guy in goal for Philadelphia, for
now...the game has settled down a bit, and Danny Briere, although way offside,
has the Flyers on the board, it's 3-1...

1-0, Nashville, thanks to the big man they got at the
deadline - Paul Gaustad...Red Wings killed off a 5 on 3 late in the 1st to
preserve the one goal game...Gaustad from Yip and Boullion Cube...at 6:59...

Darren Helm has left the game after
colliding with Alex Radulov...the "Prodigal Son", as they're referring to him,
has taken a lot of abuse in his first NHL playoff game in some time...

--------------------

8:18 PM: Pascal Dupuis got one in the final 30 seconds of period
one, and the Philadelphia Flyers will be happy to get to the dressing room...

3-0, Penguins...not
sure if Bryzgalov will be back tonight...

About 5 minutes into Nashville-Detroit...nothing
to report yet...

--------------------

7:55 PM: First goal of the 2012 Stanley Cup
Playoffs, scored by #87 in black, playing his first
playoff game in almost 2 years...Sidney Crosby...

The game is not even 10 minutes old yet, and Tyler
Kennedy has another one...Ilya Bryzgalov just got the "Bronx Cheer" for actually
making a save...

Biggest thing I've noticed, in the 9
or so minutes...Jaromir Jagr, Daniel Briere, and others, they can't compete with
the speed of Pittsburgh...all Jagr could do was watch Kennedy go in on goal and
score...

2-0, Pens...and
they've got the crowd behind them...there's even somebody dressed up as a bear
(Bryzgalov said he wasn't afraid of playing in the playoffs, he was more afraid
of a bear in the forest...)...

--------------------

7:13 PM: T-minus about 20 minutes, or so...haven't
heard any reports of a pre-game warmup brawl out of Pittsburgh...yet...

Couple more player notes - Boston's
Nathan Horton will not play in the 2012 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as he has been
shut down...the team rallied around him last spring when he took "the hit", and
quite frankly, hasn't been the same since...tried to come back a couple of
times, to no avail...maybe it's just as well, rest up and be ready for next
year...but it has to be killing him having to watch in the press box with
his team having a good chance to repeat...

Detroit's Darren Helm, on the other
hand, is expected to play Game 1, much to the delight of one Mike Babcock...

--------------------

3:22 PM: Just a few more hours!!!

Channel surfing won't be too bad tonight...just two games
on early, and they start a half hour apart - Philly-Pitts gets going at 7:30,
while Smashville gets going at 8...then Vancouver-L.A. is a 10:30 start...

Tomorrow night, however - 3 games in
the 7:00 or 7:30 slot...and then one late game...even St. Louis is a 7:30 start
instead of the usual 8 or 8:30...

Couple of Game 1 player notes - no
Daniel Sedin for Vancouver, and Jaroslav Halak gets the first start for the
Blues...

EA Sports did their usual simulations for Round 1...and it went like this
- Rangers in 5, Bruins in 4, Devils in 7, Penguins in 7, Canucks in 6, Blues in
6, Blackhawks in 5 (?!?!), Predators in 7...

Everyone, and even the computer,
seems to agree that 4-5 matchup in both conferences will go the distance...

What I find even more surprising
than EA picking Chicago over Phoenix in just 5 games, is uLAr picked the Hawks
to come out of the West...but, like me, he seems to agree that Boston will
become the 1st team since Detroit of 1997 and 1998 to repeat...

I just find it odd that not too many
of the so called "experts" are picking them, citing last year's run will have
tired them down, yet, they don't seem to feel the same way about Vancouver (and
I've watched just about all the preview shows)...anyway, we'll find out who's
right in the coming weeks...

The late nights commence...better check the
batteries in the remote...

April 10, 2012

8:24 PM: Draft Lottery...2012...dum,
da-dum, dum...

Well won't this just add injury to insult, or so much for
"Fail For Nail"...the Columbus Blue Jackets had the best chance of any of the 5
worst teams in the standings to win the Draft Lottery, with a fraction of a
percentage better than 48% - and they lost...

The envelope, please...

#5...Toronto

#4...NY Islanders...

#3...Montreal...

#2...Columbus...

Which means for the 3rd straight
year - Edmonton gets the #1 pick...wow!!! I don't know if they will or
even if they should go for Yakopov, but the option is
theirs...defense...defense...Ryan Murray of the Everett Silvertips is ranked #3
overall...not to be confused with Ryan Whitney...yeah, maybe they need to stop
drafting players named Ryan...getting a little confusing...

OK...now bring on the Playoffs
already!!!

April 8, 2012

10:10 PM: Alright...I think I just confused myself even more by tuning
into Sportsnet's playoff preview...I mean, come on - John Garrett picks
Vancouver every year, as Nick Kypreos astutely pointed out...how credible can
the predictions really be...besides, the fact of the matter is - nobody
really knows what's going to happen, do they?

No surprise that Denis Potvin was
the only member of the panel to pick Ottawa over the Rangers...yeah, good luck
with that...you think maybe he's still a little miffed over the "Potvin Sucks!"
chants at MSG!?

OK...so here I go...for better or
for worse...my picks for Round 1...

Eastern Conference

NY Rangers vs Ottawa Senators:
Rangers in 7...Sens will give them all they can handle, but Brad Richards has
been there before and won it all...plus, Henrik Lundqvist's time is now...as
much as I hope he comes back for another run, I can't help but think this will
be Alfie's last stand...there may be a banner raising ceremony next season after
all...one with the #11 on it...

Boston Bruins vs Washington Capitals:
Bruins in 5...interesting how everybody seems to think Vancouver can make it
back to the finals, but not Boston...I don't get it...as for Washington,
congratulations on making it, but you made it by the skin of your teeth...and
your top defenseman and goalies are banged up...no contest against Timmy Thomas
and Big Z...none...

Florida Panthers vs New Jersey Devils:
Devils in 6(-6-6)...Welcome back to the dance, Florida, but, um, Jose Theodore
is going to beat Martin Brodeur?! Not on your life...will be interesting
if they pit Clemmensen up against the guy he used to backup...but that would
actually make sense, wouldn't it? Not in a 7 game series...gotta feel good
for Stephen Weiss, first ever trip to the playoffs for him...

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Philadelphia
Flyers: Penguins in 7...a coin toss, really, but at the end of the day I
have no faith in Ilya Bryzgalov...and perhaps I'm being generous in giving the
Flyers 7 games...but it's going to be a lot of fun no matter what, right!?

Western Conference

Vancouver Canucks vs Los Angeles Kings:
Canucks in 7...nothing would give me more pleasure than to see the Kings pull
off the upset here, but experience, experience, experience...and if Luongo craps
the bed, "Corey Snyder" is no slouch...;)...

St. Louis Blues vs San Jose Sharks:
Blues in 5...Sharks are hot coming in, but the Blues have been hot all
year...plus, we've seen the Halak show before...San Jose can't score enough,
despite having the talent to do it...too many disappearing acts on that team...X
factor could be goaltender Niemi, but he was only "good enough" in Chicago's
Stanley Cup run of 2010, he didn't have to be great...

Phoenix Coyotes vs Chicago Blackhawks:
Coyotes in 6...first division title ever for the Desert Dogs, but what I'm most
impressed is they're coming in with a hot goalie...Hawks are coming in with
questionable goaltending and a question mark on their team captain...does
Jonathan Toews play...does Mr. Saviour, Dave Bolland, play? As for Ray
Whitney, getting his 1,000th regular season point was just a warmup...and, how
hungry is Shane Doan? Like Nashville last year, getting in isn't
enough...2nd round or bust for Phoenix...

Nashville Predators vs Detroit Red
Wings: Predators in 7...Wings are too banged up, but still good enough to
give Nashville a scare in Round 1...

Eastern Conference Champion: Boston
Bruins

Eastern Conference Dark Horse:
Pittsburgh Penguins

Western Conference Champion:
Vancouver Canucks

Western Conference Dark Horse:
Nashville Predators

Stanley Cup Champion: Boston Bruins

Conn Smythe Winner: If the Bruins
are to repeat, especially if they go up against Vancouver again, it'll have to
be Tim Thomas that guides them, again...

I know I'm basically predicting a
repeat of last year, but like I always say, don't ever, ever count out the
defending champions...what's scary is too many so called prognosticators are...

April 7, 2012

1:09 AM: So, right down to the last game
to decide the matchups...again...just minutes ago, San Jose beat Los Angeles 3-2
in OT to clinch 7th...the Kings get 8th...Phoenix won their game 4-1...so they
clinch the Pacific and 3rd seed in the West...

Vancouver clinches their 2nd
straight President's Trophy with a 3-0 win against Edmonton...

I think Dan Boyle may have just won
me my hockey pool...2 goals including the OT winner...

And the 2012 playoffs go like this:

East:

#1 NY Rangers vs #8 Ottawa

#2 Boston vs #7 Washington

#3 Florida vs #6 New Jersey

#4 Pittsburgh vs #5 Philadelphia

West:

#1 Vancouver vs #8 Los Angeles

#2 St. Louis vs #7 San Jose

#3 Phoenix vs #6 Chicago

#4 Nashville vs #5 Detroit

If you're looking for a dark horse
in either conference, look no further than the 4-5 matchup...or maybe even the
#6 seeds...either one...of course, don't forget, that 7th-2nd matchup has, for
whatever reason, always been good for an upset...a lot of people I talked to
Thursday, too, seemed to think Ottawa matches up better against the Rangers than
they do against the Bruins...problem is, if you want a berth in the finals, it's
a pretty safe bet you'll have to get by both teams...

Maybe it's just me, but didn't
Florida play New Jersey the last time they were actually in the playoffs?

Anyway...it's been a great day of
hockey...I caught portions of every game...and I'll have my picks and thoughts
up either tomorrow night or Monday...although, still, I have no clue who to
pick...

Just remember, when Wednesday gets
here, it's a whole new ballgame...everybody is 0-0...those that are
participating, that is...

--------------------

9:20 PM: Up to the minute -
Ottawa will face the NY Rangers in round 1,
as Washington went into MSG and beat them 4-1, they vault into 7th, and unless
Carolina scores 4 unanswered goals in the 3rd against Florida, they will stay
there...looking very likely Washington will get Boston, and New Jersey will get
Florida...pending a complete and total meltdown in the 3rd...I've seen Carolina
do it before, but in a Game 7 situation...what do they have to play for aside
from pride? 3-0, Cats lead after 40...

Steven Stamkos does indeed get to 60
goals...it's 3-2 Tampa leading Winnipeg late in that one...fans in Winnipeg were
on their feet to salute the special milestone...as Dean Brown put it, "that's
how you know you're in a real hockey market"...

Still plenty to be decided in the
West...last glance had Phoenix up on Minnesota...and the Rangers will have to
wait for the outcome of Vancouver-Edmonton to learn if they will win the
President's Trophy or not...Canucks would have to win it outright in points...if
the Oilers win in regulation, the Rangers win it...

And of course, there's still the
Pacific Division and Conference seeding to be decided...

--------------------

3:27 PM: Dear Chicago Blackhawks, we regret to inform you that the
Detroit Red Wings have already punched their ticket to the 1st round against us.
Perhaps we'll meet down the road. Sincerely Yours, The Nashville
Predators...

Yes, Detroit came back to tie the
game, 2-2, a late goal from Pavel Datsyuk and the game is now in OT...regardless
of what happens, the Hawks cannot catch the Wings...and quite frankly, Detroit
may have done Chicago a favor...does anybody really want to face Nashville?

--------------------

2:32 PM: Dear Nashville Predators, we can hardly wait to travel to the
Bridgestone Arena next week for the start of the 1st round. Please have
the coffee ready, and make sure the fans are loud. See you soon - With
love - The Chicago Blackhawks...

Hawks are up 2-0 on Detroit after 40 minutes - if they win,
they clinch 5th and will draw the Preds, Detroit will finish in 6th and will
await the winner of the Pacific Division...it's not possible they could draw
Phoenix again, is it?! What's even more unbelievable - Detroit would
finish with 101 points and only finish 6th in West?!?

Ottawa-New Jersey gets underway in
about a half hour...

Dear Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal
Canadiens, having a great time,
wish you were here...Vancouver
will undoubtedly send a similar post card to the Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers
and Winnipeg Jets...

A great report out today about
Winnipeg - the Jets exceeded all expectations at the gate this season, and are
actually among the NHL's richest teams...so they will contribute to rather than
be a beneficiary of revenue sharing...I guess when you sell out all of your home
games for 5 years, you can't help but be among the league leaders in
revenue...while Mark Chipman was ecstatic about the news, he still feels the
season didn't meet expectations since he had expected the Jets to make it to the
post season...wonder how he'd feel if they were actually aligned in the right
conference? I won't take anything away from Detroit, or anybody else in
the playoffs for that matter, so if you move Winnipeg over to the Western
Conference and move Columbus over to the East, Winnipeg would sit in 12th,
rather than 10th, even if they win their final game tonight...exactly...not even
close...and never mind the fact they played the bulk of their games against the
Eastern Conference, including 24 games against the Southeast Division...

April 6, 2012

10:16 PM: Coyotes-Blues - only game on the
NHL Schedule tonight - and it
was a nasty one...both teams sending a message to each other that they won't
back down easily, especially if they happen to face each other in the first
round...took about 20 minutes to play the final 5...counted at least 3
fights...including Raffi Torres getting an instigator penalty, with just seconds
above the 5 minute mark...looks like he timed that one perfectly...

It was the Mike Smith show again,
but you'd never say it by the score - no, he didn't post his 4th straight
shutout, but pretty close to it...4-1, Coyotes win and bark at the full moon out
there tonight on this Good Friday...if they can win again tomorrow against
Minnesota, they win the Pacific and get Chicago...otherwise it's either St.
Louis or San Jose in Round 1...not sure if anybody would want to face Phoenix
right now, Smith is simply sizzling in net...

OHL Playoffs, Round 2 - Ottawa 67s
vs Barrie Colts, Game 1...it was Ottawa 5, Mark Scheifele 1...everyday he's
Schiefeling...67s draw 1st blood...the usual suspects, Tyler Toffoli with 1G,
Shane Prince with 2...I wonder how much the Ottawa Senators wish he was
available to play for them next week...ditto for the Los Angeles Kings with
Toffoli...

Get ready for Super
Saturday...everybody in action...playoffs get underway Wednesday...

--------------------

1:41 AM: And "Little Joe" gets it in the
shootout...both teams now tied
in points with 94, but Los Angeles still holds the Pacific Division lead and
Western Conference 3rd seed due to that new Shootout/Regulation wins
tiebreaker...despite San Jose having more overall wins, Los Angeles has more
regulation wins...still not sure how I feel about that one...a win is a win...if
you're not going to count shootout goals or shootout wins, why not just go back
to ties?

Anyway...the division could come
down to Saturday night...they'll hook up again, back at the Shark Tank...

Phoenix has the only game on the
sched tomorrow night, they're in St. Louis...all they have to do is win their
last two games, and it won't matter what San Jose-Los Angeles does...

So really, now, it's just battles
for position...

--------------------

1:18 AM: 5-5 tie between the Sharks and
Kings...they're headed to OT...a
win for the Sharks and they will tie for 1st in the division...a week ago it
looked like they might not even make the playoffs...

Gee, I feel like they've already started...

--------------------

12:55 AM: Well, after what must have been a long night for a few
teams, we got a better idea of who will make the round of 16...first of all - a
heartbreaker for Buffalo in Philadelphia - they started out leading 1-0, but as
the broadcaster said in the highlights - it wasn't meant to be...Flyers rallied
for a 2-1 win...so the Sabres needed help from Florida over Washington...didn't
happen - Capitals win 4-2...so they clinch at least 8th, and Buffalo - you're
out...

Washington still holds a tiebreaker
on Florida - should the Panthers lose their next game and should Washington win
their next game, both in regulation time - Washington will clinch the
Southeast...Florida needs just a single point to keep the 3rd seed...they play
at home against Carolina on Saturday, as for Washington, they visit New York,
and regardless of the outcome, better make preparations to stay there all week,
just in case...

In the East, with the exception of
Toronto-Tampa Bay, where Steven Stamkos got his 59th, and Pittsburgh-NY Rangers,
where the Penguins clinched 4th spot with a 5-2 win, the rest of the games were
meaningless...

Boston, minus 4 of their top guns,
still managed to come into Ottawa and win...3-1 the final...I got a different
perspective of the game, got to sit up in the upper 400s, where the big suites
are...now I know how the broadcasters feel...not too bad a view, really...think
of the old school overhead view from EA Sports NHL games, back in the Sega
days...

And since I may not ever get up there
again, snapped pictures of these wall hangers...taken back around this time
back in '99...Wayne's last game in Canada, just before announcing his
retirement...

In the West, only two games meaning
anything was Nashville-Dallas, and the huge one - San Jose-Los
Angeles...Dallas is officially out after getting shut out 2-0...Sharks are up
5-4 on the Kings...late in the 3rd...

April 4, 2012

10:23 PM: Just 2 games on the docket
tonight...now there are exactly
30 games left on the schedule, everybody plays twice...14 tomorrow, 1 Friday,
and all 30 teams in action Saturday...

Back to last night for a
second...Nashville reached the 100 point plateau with a 2-1 shootout win over
Minnesota...already talked about San Jose's 5-2 win over Dallas...Anaheim and
Vancouver were back and forth, Canucks came from behind tow in 5-4 in a
shootout...Cory Schneider got the win after coming on in relief of Roberto
Luongo...and Mike Smith not only kept his shutout streak alive as Phoenix beat
Columbus 2-0, he also faced 54 shots...setting a record for most shots ever
faced in a regular season game...you trying to tell me the Blue Jackets got 54
freaking shots on goal?!!? Apparently they had 7 power plays...Smith has
posted a shutout in three straight games now...

Tonight, the Bolts were in Montreal
to face the Habs in a meaningless game - and Steven Stamkos, looking for goals
59 and 60, was kept off the scoresheet...Habs won 5-2...

Detroit and St. Louis were jockeying
for position tonight...and it was the Red Wings coming through, 3-2 in a
shootout...the Blues were up 2-0 in that one...then "The Mule" took over...

Lots of action tomorrow night...I'll
be at Scotiabank Place to catch what I thought would be a good preview of Round
1...unfortunately it seems Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas, Patrice Bergeron and Johnny
Boychuk aren't even making the trip - the Bruins have called up a few guys from
Providence to give some of their top guys a much deserved rest, namely Lane
MacDermid and Anton Khudobin, who is expected to get the start in net...Marty
Turco will be the backup...Torey Krug, called up for Tuesday's game against
Pittsburgh, is expected to be in the lineup again as well...it's still hard to
fathom that the Senators are only 6 points shy of the defending Stanley Cup
Champs, and that spread could be only 2 points by the time all is done...and
since it'll be that dreaded 2 vs 7 matchup, you never know what to expect...and
how much do you think Daniel Alfredsson will want ultimate revenge for the All
Star Game?...it's on, boys...

April 3, 2012

11:43 PM: San Jose wins their game in
Dallas, 5-2...five different
goal scorers for the Sharks, including Logan Couture with his 31st...they
temporarily move into 7th, pending the result of the Phoenix game - they were
leading 2-0 - a win for the Coyotes and they move back into 7th, and the spread
between 8th and 9th is 3 points...it's not looking good for Dallas...there were
reports of tornados today in the Dallas-Fort Worth area...an omen,
perhaps?...Colorado still for the moment mathematically alive, but
barely...assuming Phoenix wins, all San Jose would need is a point to clinch a
spot...now whether that spot is 3rd, 7th or 8th, will depend on their home and
home against L.A....

--------------------

10:33 PM: Jason Spezza made a late game
of it with his 33rd, but Carolina held on for the 2-1 win...that
should officially clinch 6th for New Jersey...Ottawa could fall to 8th, but only
if they lose their final games and if Washington wins their final two
games...otherwise, bring on Boston...

Sharks are still holding on to that
3-2 lead over the Stars...tied 1-1 between Anaheim and Vancouver, and still tied
1-1 between Nashville and Minnesota...

--------------------

10:07 PM: Wow!!! Do you believe in
miracles? Well they sure do in Buffalo!!

Leafs were home and cool, twice...they
were up 5-3 in the 3rd, but you just had a sense the Sabres were going to make a
game of it...they always do, especially in their home rink...the fine young
defenseman Alex Sulzer got one in off of Ben Scrivens' right pad, it went to
video review and was ruled a good goal...then a late scramble saw Matt Lombardi
land on the puck in the crease - the refs let it go, then Jordan Leopold jabbed
away and got it to go...5-5...we needed OT...and if fans weren't entirely on
Dion Phaneuf, they will be now - he deflected a puck over the glass, takes the
Delay of Game penalty...and the Sabres made him pay...Derek Roy, who has been a
little cold of late, came to life with a goal in the 3rd to tie the game 3-3,
and picked up the garbage in OT for the 6-5 Buffalo win...88 points for
Washington...88 points for Buffalo...and they're going crazy on the U.S. side of
Niagara Falls...as for Toronto color commentator Greg Millen, I'm sure he's
eating his words right about now...when Toronto went up 5-3 he was too fast to
write the Sabres off...but also was quick to point out Derek Roy was a guy to
watch...and he was...

As for Toronto...this should be the
icing on the cake...and it's a very dry and tasteless one...

Somehow Winnipeg and Florida are
tied 4-4 and are in OT? Panthers could clinch the Southeast with a
win...

Rangers clinch the Atlantic, as well
as top seed in the Eastern Conference with a
5-3 win over Philadelphia, same score for Pittsburgh over Boston...and New
Jersey wins 3-1 over the Islanders...Ottawa is down 2-0 against Carolina...so
much for the Senators catching 6th...they do play the Devils on Saturday, but
they would have needed to win their final three games, including tonight...

And the Jets take it...5-4...so
Florida needs a single point to clinch the Southeast, not to mention a playoff
spot...

San Jose just went up 3-2 on
Dallas...late in the 2nd...Minnesota and Nashville are tied 1-1...Ducks-Canucks
and Blue Jackets-Coyotes are just about to get underway...

--------------------

8:40 PM: Buffalo is not making life easy
for themselves...they allowed
Toronto to go up 3-0 before the game was even 20 minutes old, but they've clawed
their way back, it's 3-2 in the 2nd...

And is it just me, or is
Philadelphia's achilles heel once again going to be their goaltending!?
Ilya "I can't stop the puck" Bryzgalov is having another night to forget...it
was 4-0, but now it's a 4-1 Rangers lead...to put this in perspective, the
Rangers only have 17 shots on goal...

Pens-Bruins, deadlocked 2-2...Canes
just went up 1-0 on the Sens...and the Cats are up 3-0 on the Jets...

More to come...

--------------------

6:56 PM: And the road to the Memorial Cup
continues...2nd round matchups
in the OHL, WHL and QMJHL were announced today...in the OHL, Game 1 of all 4 series
gets going Friday night - Saginaw goes against London, Brampton against Niagara,
Barrie against Ottawa, and Kitchener against Plymouth...so the 67s get to
contend with Winnipeg prospect Mark Scheifele...Leaf fans will also recognize
Brendan Bell...the Colts will rely heavily on German goaltender Mathias
Niederberger...I think I still give Petr Mrazek the edge in that one...we'll
see...Ottawa gets Sportsnet's "Friday Night Hockey" treatment for the second
week in a row...

In the WHL, it'll be a series fit
for a King, as the Brandon Wheat Kings go up against the Edmonton Oil
Kings...Medicine Hat gets Moose Jaw, Kamloops gets Portland, and Spokane gets
Tri-City...

In the Q - all but one of the first
round series ended in a sweep...unfortunately, the Gatineau Olympiques were one
of the teams swept...Chicoutimi needed 6 games to eliminate
Acadie-Bathurst...they will now face the Memorial Cup hosts in Shawinigan, so
regardless of how that series ends, Shawinigan will play in May...heavily
favored Halifax gets Quebec - Remparts head coach Patrick Roy along with son
Frederick get to contend with Nathan MacKinnon, who is being touted as the next
Crosby - oddly enough, MacKinnon was drafted by the Remparts but wanted to be
closer to home, so was traded to Halifax...careful what you wish for...Frederick
was just awarded the Guy Carbonneau trophy as the QMJHL's best defensive
forward...this will be the closest you'll get to a Habs-Nordiques rivalry until
the NHL returns there...rounding out the round of 8, Rimouski plays
Blainville-Boisbriand, and Saint John gets Baie-Comeau...

Just like in the NHL, it's wide open
in all three leagues in the CHL...anybody can take it, as evidenced by a close
Belleville-Ottawa series...

--------------------

10:42 AM: Last night, the Los Angeles Kings did themselves a huge
favor in the playoff race - they won...2-0 shutout against Edmonton...the win
solidifies their hold on 1st in the Pacific and the 3rd overall seed in the
West, albeit, only by 2 points now instead of 1...if they can hang on to that
seed, they won't have to travel during the first two games of the playoffs, and
the furthest they'll have to travel this week will be San Jose...Edmonton didn't
make it easy on them, though, despite only getting 19 total shots on goal...the
game was scoreless until the 3rd period when Slava Voynov broke through with his
8th, and then later on Dwight King put the icing on the cake with his 5th...not
players you would expect to produce in a game of this magnitude, but they
stepped it up in Jeff Carter's absence...Jonathan Quick made 19 saves for his
10th shutout of the season...the Kings peppered Dubnyk with 37 shots, 2 of them
found the twine...

Tonight, Buffalo will try to take
advantage of Washington's loss last night to Tampa Bay, they finish a home and
home against Toronto, back in their home barn...needless to say, they've gotta
have that one...doesn't matter if it's regulation or in OT/SO, but they need 2
points...otherwise, they better hope and pray Washington tanks their last two
games...and even then, they would need to win their final 2 games...better if
they can win all 3 of their remaining games, then let the chips fall...

And I just want to preface this next
little blurb by saying typically I have the utmost respect for women, but I have
to say, the example I'm about to give will have to work really hard to earn it -
as they say, actions speak louder than words...except in the Twitter-verse...

You know, this Twitter is a
dangerous thing - years before the Internet was all the rage, the only way a
player could get themselves in the news was either saying the wrong thing to the
papers or on camera...now, with Social Networking, even the not-so-better halves
are even getting in on it...now I know boys will be boys and girls will be
girls...and I'm all for a good catfight...but tell me if this isn't going too
far - Brittany Carnegie, Milan Lucic's girlfriend, put it out there on Twitter
for all to see that "Corey Snyder"'s girlfriend, who was unnamed in the
report, "fingered me and told me off about my Bruins hat"...evidently
Cory's girl made a direct comment to Brittany about wearing a Boston hat while
the two were having dinner in a Vancouver restaurant...like, so what,
happens to me all the time when I show up to an Ottawa-Edmonton game with my
Oilers' gear on...get over it...so not only did she misspell Cory Schneider's
name, she referred to him as the "Canucks' loser backup"...and she didn't
stop there (not to mention aside from her spelling she evidently doesn't appear
to know proper punctuation, but then again, it's Twitter)..."FYI I was at the
game and around Vancouver and she was the ONLY one with a problem people
actually were VERY kind ! She only had a problem !"..."Corey Snyder
control your broad because she is straight classless, rude and acts like a
trucker !!"..."I guess haters are guna hate but keep your girl in
line...Vancouver is my home !"...

Now I'll tell you what, Cory
Schneider's girlfriend is showing a lot more class by not even responding
to what we like to refer to up here in Canada as "Trailer Trash" or "potty
mouth", or at least as far as I've been able to find out, she hasn't responded -
she doesn't have to, an entire continent full of Canucks and Bruins fans have
already taken the liberty, and some of the responses I won't repeat here...as
one blogger put it - "Young girl got mad on Twitter about something silly.
Does it deserve to be made fun of? Yep. Does she deserve to be
called the names that Canuck fans are calling her? Nope. Never."

No disrespect to Milan Lucic or his
girlfriend, or women in general, but really - is it any wonder Sean Avery made
his "sloppy seconds" comment a few years ago? If this one
individual's Tweets is any reflection whatsoever on the character of some of the
girls the players attract?! One report I read shows a picture of Brittany
dressed in a sparkly dress, beside the Stanley Cup while she puckers up beside
the mug...I'm not really sure what the intent was there, but some might
interpret it the wrong way...and yet another, taken last August, of Milan Lucic
in Vancouver holding the Stanley Cup above his head, and Brittany is hugging him
and giving him a kiss on the cheek...see, that's cool...don't go on Twitter
talking trash...OK?! I mean, who knows - the Bruins and Canucks could meet
again and the result this time could be way different...a lot has to happen
first, but a definite possibility...and I'll give the Canucks this - regardless
of what happens this year - there's been somewhat of a maturation that's taken
place this year...for the most part, they've kept their emotions in check,
they've stopped whining about things that happen in a game and their brass has
stopped ranting about the referees, etc...time will tell, but it's the old adage
- learning how to lose before learning how to win...still doesn't mean I'm
jumping on the Canucks' bandwagon anytime soon, though...

Well, I will say this - at least for
once the focus was not on Roberto Luongo...and I'll say one other thing - I'm
still reeling over and dying to hear Ben Eager's side of the story about the
girl who flashed him in the penalty box during last year's Vancouver-San Jose
series...but unless Eager writes a book someday, we'll never hear more about
it...maybe, in a way, that's a good thing...

Now, I have a question for Brittany
- if and when the Bruins get eliminated from the playoffs, will you still be
loyal to Lucic? Just wondering...

11:14 PM: Somehow I thought Ales Hemsky
left the last game against Anaheim...but he is back in action tonight...maybe I
had it confused with the announcment of Taylor Hall's pending shoulder surgery,
which is tomorrow, he'll be out of action 5-6 mths...just enough time to get
back for training camp...

--------------------

9:42 PM: ...or not...Steven
Stamkos gets goals 57 and 58 on the season, the latter into an empty net with 1
second remaining...the Capitals don't like it, but it's a 4-2 Tampa Bay win and
it's in the books - Washington has 2 games left, Buffalo has 3...Washington
still holds the tiebreaker...you have to kind of feel for Stamkos - he could end
up with 60 or more goals on the season, and no playoffs...must be especially
disappointing when you consider how far the Bolts got last spring...

Kentucky-Kansas, NCAA March Madness
final - Kentucky is running away with it early...looks like Ovechkin might
actually win
something this year - his March Madness bracket...

No Jeff Carter tonight for L.A. -
"deep ankle bruise" with no structural damage is the injury assessment...

Thanks
to the shenanigans that went on yesterday between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh,
not only is Danny Briere day to day with a bruised back, Flyers coach Peter
Laviolette is $10,000 thinner in his wallet, while Pittsburgh assistant coach
Tony Granato loses $2,500...all Pierre McGuire could do is watch...

1 game suspension for Detroit's Kyle
Quincey for his charging play on Florida's Tomas Kopecky...

And the concussion epidemic
continues...and appears to be now getting more goalies than ever...Toronto's
James Reimer is unlikely to return this season, and now Montreal's Carey Price
also is expected to miss the end of the season, as he too suffers the effects of
a concussion...

--------------------

9:29 PM: Game 6 between the Ottawa 67s and
Belleville Bulls was a spirited
affair - the Bulls gave it their all, but Ottawa emerges with the 2-1 victory -
Tyler Toffoli, the L.A. Kings' prospect, with both goals for the 67s...if you
get a chance to see any highlights - check out the fight in the 3rd period
between Belleville's Joseph Cramarossa and Ottawa's Tyler Graovac...it was a
good one...the commentators were calling it a potential fight of the year
candidate...can't comment as I didn't see too many Junior games this year...

P.K. Subban was in attendance
watching brothers Jordan and Malcolm...interesting to get the Belleville
broadcasting perspective...they're saying Malcolm may get an invite to Team
Canada's Junior squad next year...while Jordan missed scoring the tying goal
late in the game, by a hair...nobody gave Belleville a fighting chance against
the #2 seeded 67s, but give them credit, they were in every game...

So Ottawa moves on to Round 2 - as
of yet their opponent is unknown...the only series to finish in a sweep was
London and Windsor, the other series are still going on...Brampton or Toronto
St. Mikes are safe bets...

Tampa has a 2-1 lead on the
Washington Capitals, late in the 3rd, much to the delight of the Buffalo Sabres,
I'm sure...

Edmonton can play spoiler at 10:30
as they invade the Staples Centre...

Capitals have tied it
up...2-2...smells like OT...

April 1, 2012

11:49 PM: So, Ottawa did win today -
5-1...and they're in...probably will finish in that 7th seed, but who knows...regardless,
the East is wide open, regardless of where everybody ends up...the game on
Thursday against Boston is less meaningful now - the Bruins clinched the
Northeast today with their win over the NY Rangers...if nothing else, it'll
serve as a playoff preview as it'll most likely be Boston-Ottawa in the 1st
round...

For the 8th seed in the East, it's
up to Buffalo and Washington...who wants it? Have to give a slight edge to
Washington, because even if Buffalo wins all three of their final games, the
Capitals will win the tiebreaker if it comes to that...they even hold the edge
in the overtime loss tiebreaker...

Phoenix, San Jose, Dallas,
Colorado...those four are still duking it out for the two final spots in the
West...Colorado only has 2 games left, though...Thursday against Columbus,
Saturday against Nashville...win them both and they will finish with 92
points...still might not be enough...even worse news for Colorado and one of the
other four teams - San Jose and Dallas go head to head Tuesday night - then the
Sharks complete the season in a home and home against L.A....that division still
has to be decided...2 points separate Los Angeles from Dallas...all three
separated from each other by a single point...and Dallas sits outside of the
playoffs...unbelievable...

Most mind boggling - the Northwest
Division, usually the tightest division in the NHL, may only have one team make
the playoffs (Vancouver)...Colorado sits in 2nd and may fall short (by a long
shot mind you, a 19 point spread between the Avs and Canucks...21 points
separate Vancouver from Calgary)...BTW, just a side note - anybody who still
isn't sold on Roberto Luongo - talk to me after Vancouver's first two playoff
games...the Canucks must be relieved that they aren't getting Chicago again this
year...at least not for Round 1 anyway...

Only highlights I've seen so far
today was Pittsburgh-Philadelphia...I went to Watertown and saw the highlights
on a TV Screen, right about where the brawl broke out...they still have one more
game against each other, and looks like they will meet in Round 1...

Still a lot can happen...aside from
the first round, this is the best week of the entire season...even when we do
know who plays who, I have absolutely no clue who to pick...it'll be between the
Rangers and Pittsburgh for the Eastern Conference, but even then, you can't
count out the defending champs...my dark horse will be between Philadelphia and
Ottawa...but the Flyers burned me last year, no thanks to Tampa Bay, yet, they
were my dark horse, and almost did it...if Buffalo somehow manages to sneak in,
they've been playing playoff hockey since the All Star Break, so they'd have to
get consideration too...I have no faith in Washington, period...no way
they get by the Rangers again...

Yup...no clue who to pick...the
West, forget about it...

Tomorrow night, only two NHL Games -
Washington is in Tampa Bay, and Edmonton takes their Teemu show to Los
Angeles...tonight, it was Teemu Selanne for Anaheim, Teemu Hartikainen for
Edmonton...Oil edged the Ducks 2-1...now they'll look to make life miserable for
the Kings...

And in the OHL Monday, it's Game 6
betwen Ottawa and Belleville...a win for the 67s and they move on to Round
2...Game 7, if necessary, back in Ottawa on Tuesday...

--------------------

11:46 AM:
OK - a couple of quick notes -
an Ottawa win today against the Islanders, and they clinch...and, somehow,
yesterday, San Jose managed to edge Dallas for the last spot...good thing
Phoenix won their game...that whole Western race is just mind boggling...the
Stars have gone from 8th, to 3rd and back down to 9th in just four days...

When
doing the weekend picks, I got a little intrigued by a comment uLAr made to
me - of course, as always, it seems like this season has just flown by - and one
thing in particular he said to me - "There better not be a lockout!"...

So
this got me to thinking...well, would it be such a bad thing? I mean
the economical ramifications aside - when the NHL isn't playing, thousands of
people don't get to work and earn a living - I get that - but has this latest
CBA really improved things? Gary Bettman is always feeding us the usual
rhetoric about how attendance continues to rise, how revenues continue to grow,
yada yada yada...but, yet...the media's spin on it has always been - well, OK,
but there are still a few teams who shall remain nameless who could benefit from
a few changes to the agreement...

Suffice it to say - this latest round of "cost certainty" doesn't
necessarily mean everything smells like roses...we still have Phoenix struggling
to remain afloat, and their future there still remains to be seen...on the other
hand, we had Atlanta pack up and move north to Winnipeg this past season, a move
that would never have been possible under the old system (which, by the way -
we've all seen the Canadian perspectives on this, how Manitoba is ecstatic about
having a team back, etc - but did anybody happen to catch the contingent of
disgruntled Atlanta Thrashers' fans in the stands in Nashville recently?)

So I
look at it this way - it would royally suck to lose any part of another
season with the NHLPA and NHL squabbling over an extended or new CBA - but at
the end of the day - maybe it's a good thing - maybe, just maybe, if it ever
comes to that, we can get rid of Mr. Bettman and his way or the high way of
doing things - maybe we can get Wayne Gretzky to go on another rant of epic
proportions, and maybe he'll step in as commissioner and clean things up (even
though I know based on recent interviews he is quite happy with his life as it
is right now) - and on a more selfish level, maybe, just maybe, I can look
forward to another Edmonton Oilers' finals run...I joked with uLAr that since we
had a New Jersey Stanley Cup back in 1995, after the 48 game shortened season,
and then in 2006 the improbable Edmonton run, maybe if there is another lockout
- Stanley Cup Final, New Jersey-Edmonton, for all the marbles, and hopefully no
hard feelings at the end of it all...careful what you wish for, right?!?

I'm
actually not opposed to the current way of doing things, but in my opinion a
couple of tweaks would need to be done:

1)
Teams should be afforded the ability to dump a high end contract in the
event things don't work out (Scott Gomez, I'm looking right in your direction) -
without it affecting their salary cap - if not once a year, maybe once every two
or three years....I'm sorry, the fact that Alexei Yashin is still part of the
Islanders' payroll is just wrong on so many levels...forget the fact that he was
seen practicing with the team on that fateful day when his former KHL team's
plane went down...

2)
Teams should not have to be relegated to 15 players on their roster in the
event of injuries just because calling up somebody would put them over the cap -
and perhaps more flexibility with respect to "emergency callups" has to be
considered...I'm sure the Calgary Flames will be on board with this one...I know
Bettman makes the argument that if a team can't properly manage their resources
then that's too bad, well that has to change...and again, put in a provision
that if a team opts to take advantage of this flexibility, then they aren't
eligible to do so for another year or two...

And
finally - realignment - get it done...OK, so Winnipeg wouldn't have had a
chance in hell at being in the playoff race this late in the season if they were
in the West, but they can't continue to share a division with their former
Southeast rivals...and furthermore - find a way to get a team back in
Quebec...make it happen...and then maybe expand to 32 teams in order to make the
realignment proposal actually work...Quebec being one of the two teams...maybe
get a team in Vegas or Seattle or wherever else they're considering...one has to
think now that Jim Balsillie has stepped down from his position at RIM that he
could still own a team yet...

Don't
get me wrong - I don't want to see any time lost again - and you can bet one
thing this time will be way different than in 2004 - the NBC deal - they will
pressure the NHL and NHLPA like there's no tomorrow to get a deal in place -
they do not want to lose the opportunity to broadcast any games...